Rowan recall movement fails
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, June 30th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – The effort to force a special election to recall Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan appears to have failed. The deadline for turning in signed petitions calling for a vote was at 5 p.m. Monday. A few minutes after that deadline, Elections Manager Kim Lindell reported that no petitions were turned into the office.
The movement would have needed more than 3,770 signatures. The county would have then had 30 days to verify those who signed are registered voters living in Umatilla County.
The recall petition came in response to Rowan being charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving in Gilliam County while operating his county patrol vehicle. He agreed to diversion for each charge. Because of the diversion his record was cleared of the DUII charge. However, the court had not yet had a hearing on his diversion regarding reckless driving at last report.
There will be no special election to address recalling Rowan. However, an investigation is still pending before the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. DPSST Communications Coordinator Sam Tenney said in an earlier interview that the investigation will not get underway until both charges have reached a resolution in the judicial system.
Tenney said that the soonest the DPSST Police Policy Committee (PPC) could meet on the matter would be at the August 20 meeting. If that’s not feasible, it would probably not go before the PPC until November. The PPC will make a recommendation to the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training making the final decision. That board only meets every quarter with meetings scheduled in November of this year and January 2027.
