At an extraordinary meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, October 15, Commission Vice-Chair Walter Chuck declined to allow District Attorney Jenna Wallace to speak. When Wallace approached the microphone, it was turned off, and Chuck adjourned the meeting shortly afterward.

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Commissioner Casey Miller asked multiple times for Wallace to be allowed to speak, but Chuck maintained control of the proceedings, stating that he was in charge of the meeting.

Earlier in the session, Miller also attempted to discuss an ethics complaint he filed with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, but Chuck did not permit the discussion to proceed.

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DA Wallace was prepared to read the following statement and to request a vote on a resolution she had drafted for the board’s consideration:

“I am here today again asking for the Board of Commissioners to grant exceptions to the hiring freeze for five key public safety positions within the District Attorney’s Office.

As I stated two weeks ago, the District Attorney’s Office has 10 vacant positions with 9 of those positions currently frozen. Over the past six months, I have repeatedly requested freeze exceptions citing public safety necessity. However, those requests have been denied or ignored without any discussion and without public hearing. Today, I am again requesting exceptions for two general-fund deputy district attorneys, one grant-funded deputy district attorney, a detective position, and the Executive Chief position.

I want to make it clear as it appears there was confusion when I spoke two weeks ago that I am not asking for any additional positions or funding. I am simply advocating for the ability to use the budget provided to me and hire personnel into already established and approved positions adopted through the 25-26 budget process by you, the Board of Commissioners. The District Attorney’s Office is not responsible for the four-million-dollar deficit and has consistently underspent over the past decade, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars back to the general fund at the end of every budget cycle. My request for exceptions for five key public safety positions leaves four positions frozen in the District Attorney’s Office to assist in resolving the County-created budget deficit. This seems to be a reasonable compromise to promote public safety while also balancing the budget.

Without adequate resources, staffing, and the ability to hire employees, criminal prosecution in Lincoln County will be severely impacted. If the Board of Commissioners continue to prevent the District Attorney’s Office from hiring employees into these five key public safety positions, it will directly impact our ability to protect our community, hold offenders accountable, and seek justice for victims.

At this time, I would ask that the Board of Commissioners vote to approve an order today to immediately unfreeze the five key public safety positions previously listed and allow the District Attorney’s Office to initiate hiring into these five positions immediately.”