The Lane County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to include Measure 110 reform in its legislative priorities and principles ahead of the upcoming state legislative session.
There are eleven reform items included in the Board’s adopted position, including:
- Reform rather than repeal.
- Reclassify Possession of a Controlled Substance from a Class E violation to a Class A misdemeanor and a new Class A misdemeanor for public use of a controlled substance, as long as it is accompanied by improved investment in criminal justice and behavioral healthcare systems to better serve Oregonians. (Simply reintroducing sanctions without other changes and investment will only exacerbate the issues reform is intended to correct.)
- Support legislation that requires prioritizing funding for expansion of treatment capacity over other existing uses of the funding associated with the Behavioral Health Resource Networks (BHRN) created by Senate Bill 755.
- Ensure funding eligibility for organizations that solely focus on treatment for justice-involved individuals.
- Support diversion and sufficient investment and redesign to improve diversion programs.
- Support statutory requirement that funds continue to be allocated to specialty courts, including drug courts.
- Support for better defined peace office, director, and other hold authority needed in statute to limit liability for local government, non-profits, and other contracted service providers.
- Support legislation creating incentives for successful local implementation of programs such as the Community Corrections Act and others.
The full document is available online. It contains a more detailed analysis and the full text of the Board’s reform priorities.
The Board of County Commissioners regularly adopts and updates its legislative principles. Those principles help guide County efforts to inform state legislation, as well as help Lane County pursue funding for services provided on behalf of the state.