Historical Overview
In 1977 the Oregon Legislature enacted the Community Corrections
Act. Yamhill County became the second county in the state
(a few months after Washington County) to participate in the
community corrections program. The establishment of a consolidated
corrections program brought together:
The pre-trial release program , formerly operated by
the circuit and district courts and the misdemeanant probation
officer, The work release program, operated out of a corner of
the Sheriff's Office, and felony probation and parole services,
which had been operated by the state corrections division out
of the Salem regional office. Following the adoption of the
community corrections concept, the Yamhill County Board of
Commissioners appointed a 15 member local advisory committee.
The committee was staffed by representatives from the
criminal justice system. In May 1977, the Advisory Committee
recommended Yamhill County assume total control of the
community corrections program. On July 1,1978, Yamhill
County became an Option I program.
SB 1145 - Local Control - Supervisory Authority
The legislature in 1993 shifted the management of some felony
cases from the state to the counties. The enactment of SB1145
identified certain felony offenders, those serving a term of
12 months or less, to be housed in the county correctional
facilities. The shift relieved some pressure on an increasing
state prison population. The legislation moved all parole
and probation officers to the employment and control of the
county. The bill provided capital construction monies to
the counties to provide additional bed space with operational
dollars as well as impact funds to provide for the management of
the offenders at the local level.
Yamhill County piloted a project in the fall of 1995 to house
'state-turned local control' inmates at the county level.
The pilot included prisoners from adjoining counties housed
in the Yamhill County Correctional Facility for structured
intermediate sanctions. In November of 1997, the county
opened a restitution/work center addition built with SB1145
capital construction funds.
|
