Public Safety Coordinating Council

The Public Safety Coordinating Council, a regional, advisory council for the Board of Commissioners, strives to ensure every effort is taken to effectively use resources to prevent crime, reduce crime and increase the sense of safety within our community.

The council brings together agencies involved in public safety to assure that policies and programs work in a coordinated manner across jurisdictional lines and in sync with one another. The council is composed of state-designated agency representatives and other stakeholders. Its members include justice agency leaders, educators, service providers and elected officials.

The council develops and recommends to the county Board of Commissioners plans to provide a comprehensive corrections program for both adults and juveniles that are effective and cost-effective. The council works to make sure there is a continuum of programs and services that promote healthy behavior, ensure the ability to protect the community and hold offenders accountable.

In 1995, Oregon voters passed Measure 11 to increase prison time for violent crimes, sending more people to state prisons for a longer time. The state Legislature passed Senate Bill 1145 making counties responsible for offenders sentenced to terms of less than one year. This led to creating local public safety coordinating councils to help communities provide for incarceration and supervision of offenders under local control. Each county in Oregon is mandated, through SB 1145, to have a local Public Safety Coordinating Council.