SAFETY LEVY'S DEFEAT SHELVES DRUG EDUCATION

There's good news and bad news at the Washington County Sheriff's
Office following the failure of the county's public safety levy renewal.

The good news is: No layoffs will occur.

The bad news is: Staffing levels will drop somewhat as open positions
stay open longer. And some programs, like the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program in county schools, will be suspended.

All of these changes are effective now until November 2006, when the
county is tentatively planning to ask voters again for the levy,
sheriff's officials said.

"We purposely planned this, so if it failed, we'd have 20 months of
planning time," said Sheriff Rob Gordon. "The criminal justice system
will continue to operate at a lower level than it has been for those
20 months. It'll survive, but at a lower level."

The levy, which voters originally approved in 2000, provided funds for
110 beds in the jail and community corrections center, as well as 30
deputies and other sheriff's staff.

Funding from the levy expires June 30, 2005. At that point, the
sheriff's office must cut $3 million from its budget.

The department's top priorities, beginning July 1, are: keeping as
many jail beds open for as long as possible, keeping as many deputies
on patrol as possible, keeping the "geo-policing" program going in all
areas, and keeping detectives, records and other police-related
functions going full-time.

Toward that end, the department is re-assigning DARE deputies to
patrol and the jail. "Education and contact with kids is so important
in their later years, but we have to focus on our primary mission," he
said.

Three other open deputy positions will be held vacant, as will one
jail deputy position, two detective positions and one evidence officer
position.

"That's the pattern you'll see: Long open periods after we lose
people," Gordon said.

John Hartner, director of Washington County's parole and probation
department, and District Attorney Robert Hermann said their
departments hasn't finalized any plans yet. The original levy funded
11 probation officer positions, six deputy district attorneys and two
victim assistance staff.

"The things under consideration for us are whether we're able to keep
all the beds open at the community correction center, and whether we
can retain a level of supervision for all cases," Hartner said. "Those
are the two big issues which will take discussion and thought with the
courts."

It might mean maintaining supervision of all high-risk offenders and
not keeping supervision on lower-level offenders, Hartner said. Some
of those lower-level crimes might include drunk driving and property
crimes.

Parole and probation gets some of its funding from the state, and
Hartner won't know about that funding until the Legislature convenes
next year.

The DA's office would have gotten money for one new attorney and two
new staff positions. In addition to not getting those positions,
Hermann also won't fill an open child abuse prosecutor position as
well as a receptionist opening.

"The levy's failure has cost us the ability to keep up with the
volume," Hermann said. He and his staff will review their budget later
this week to see what other measures he might need to make.