Multnomah County Sheriff's Office granted nearly $1 million for 'dire' staffing crisis

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Multnomah County commissioners approved a budget modification request from the sheriff's office on Thursday, granting the agency nearly $1 million to address its "growing staffing crisis."

The budget modification awarded the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office $965,885 from American Rescue Plan funds which will expand the MCSO Background Investigations Unit from eight to 10 staffers, add an office assistant position, and a fifth recruiter to the office, which Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell said would be "instrumental" to address the backlog of recruitments for vacant positions.

The money comes amid a "dire" human resources staffing situation at MCSO after recent turnover and as Multnomah County jails near capacity, according to the sheriff.

In a letter to county commissioners on Nov. 1, Sheriff Morrisey O’Donnell explained, “The reality is that MCSO is currently only able to staff about two-thirds of its corrections operations. The result is overreliance on overtime, diminished staff morale, high turnover, and regular jail closures.”

“The staffing situation is dire; how did we get here? Between 2021 and 2022, we saw separations of nearly half of the entire corrections workforce. While we have worked diligently to hire new staff to fill this void, we have been unable to match the pace of retirements and other separations. Today we carry between 80 and 90 vacancies on a routine basis, most notably approximately 30 vacancies in corrections, representing about 10% of our funded staffing level,” the sheriff wrote.

Before Multnomah County commissioners unanimously approved the funds on Thursday, Commissioners Sharon Meieran and Julia Brim-Edwards criticized Chair Jessica Vega Pederson for not initially including the funds in her budget.

Speaking to the sheriff during the board meeting, Commissioner Meiran said, “I was dismayed that your proposal did not make it into [Chair Jessica Vega Pederson’s] proposed budget. But then I was grateful that Commissioner Brim-Edwards brought this forward as an amendment."

“I feel like this is Groundhog Day of what we saw with the ambulance availability crisis. As during the ambulance availability crisis, when we had such desperate need, such as clear solution, and the Chair – you could have embraced this in the beginning – but you simply allowed the situation to spiral downward and people have been harmed,” Meiran continued.

“The sheriff has repeatedly asked for resources to support sufficient staffing at our jails,” Commissioner Brim-Edwards said, noting she was disappointed her previous amendment to bring more money to the sheriff’s office was not fully funded.

“We need the sheriff to be fully staffed not only for community safety but also [for] the support and well-being for corrections staff and adults in custody," Brim-Edwards added.

In her remarks, Chair Vega Pederson said she expects the sheriff's office to be held accountable for addressing the staffing issues.

“Solving the ongoing issues in the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office isn’t just a matter of more dollars but using resources effectively. Our Central Resources Team has been meeting with the sheriff’s [human resources] team since early 2024. They believe that the recruitment and background check problems are MCSO are primarily due to performance and process issues within the MCSO HR team. So, accountability of the MCSO HR team is going to be a critical component of the strategy to turn things around," Vega Pederson said.

She furthered, “I expect to see clear progress on these hiring challenges over the next several months using these additional resources and the human resources supports I redirected away from other county departments, now focused on the sheriff’s office."

While the additional funding was ultimately approved for the sheriff's office, Brim-Edwards said she was concerned about the nature of the one-time funding, noting, “I think it is unfair to the sheriff and staff to say we’re going to hold you accountable for staffing the county commission didn’t fund.”