A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
IN BRIEF
County seeks applicants
for tax appeals board
Clatsop County residents familiar with the local
real estate market are invited to serve on the county
Board of Property Tax Appeals.
Board members meet one to fi ve times to hear
petitions between February and March. Required
training takes place in January.
The board adjourns no later than April 15, the
county said. The 2022-23 term ends on June 30.
The county Board of Commissioners appoints a
group of candidates; the county clerk selects three to
serve.
Applications can be found on the county website
and are due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 13.
— The Astorian
Oregon’s predicted
kicker rebate grows to $3.5 billion
Oregon’s tax and lottery revenues continue to far
outpace economists’ predictions, with the state now
expected to take in $600 million more than forecast-
ers predicted just three months ago.
Booming tax revenues from capital gains and
businesses could push the state’s unique “kicker” tax
rebate up by another $500 million, according to the
latest quarterly forecast that economists presented to
lawmakers on Wednesday. That would bring the total
rebate to $3.5 billion, which taxpayers would receive
as a credit or refund on their 2023 taxes when they
fi le in 2024.
Yet even as Oregon’s tax and other revenues
greatly exceed expectations, economists told law-
makers that Oregon’s economic outlook is unusually
diffi cult to predict and that will make it extra chal-
lenging to accurately budget for state government in
the coming years.
— The Oregonian
DEATHS
In Brief
Deaths
Aug. 30, 2022
HELLBERG, Verna
Christine, 92, of Asto-
ria, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 29, 2022
ROBINSON, Rich-
ard Brooks Jr., 69, of
Seaside, died in Seaside.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 28, 2022
HIRSCHBERG, Saul
Benjamin, 96, of Warren-
ton, died in Warrenton.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Attempted murder
Theft
On
the
• Travis
James Record
West,
• Russell Dean Brooks,
27, of Portland, was
indicted last week for
attempted murder in the
second degree, second-de-
gree assault, second-de-
gree criminal mischief
and reckless endangering.
The crimes are alleged
to have occurred in Clat-
sop County earlier in the
month.
Burglary
• Shawn Cameron
Labuff , 29, of Salem, was
indicted last week for
two counts of second-de-
gree burglary, fourth-de-
gree assault, second-de-
gree criminal trespass and
harassment. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred in
Clatsop County earlier in
the month.
Stalking
• David Lane Bor-
land, 63, of Hammond,
was arraigned last week
on charges of violat-
ing a court’s stalking
and protective order
and contempt of court.
The crimes are alleged
to have occurred in
July.
36, of Salem, was indicted
last week for fi rst-degree
theft, unauthorized use of
a vehicle, menacing con-
stituting domestic vio-
lence and harassment. The
crimes are alleged to have
occurred in November.
Mail theft
• Melissa Ann Rob-
erts, 43, of Warrenton, was
arraigned last week on a
charge of mail theft.
Reckless driving
• Jeremiah David Nol-
lan, 39, of Warrenton, was
indicted last week for reck-
less driving, driving unin-
sured, driving with revoked
privileges, two counts of
second-degree
criminal
mischief, and failure to per-
form the duties of a driver to
injured persons. The crimes
are alleged to have occurred
earlier in the month.
DUII
• Bradley Dale McGin-
nis, 32, of Amarillo, Texas,
was arrested on Saturday on
U.S. Highway 101 in Sea-
side for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants and
reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Warrenton City Commission and Urban Renewal Agen-
cy, 3 p.m., special meeting on marina work pier project,
City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
TUESDAY
Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A.
Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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MUU-MUU CREW
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
The Muu-Muu Crew crossed the fi nish line in Seaside on Saturday for Hood to Coast. Thousands of runners competed in the
annual relay.
Judge rules for strict limits on
some Oregon State Hospital stays
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
The Oregonian
A federal judge has
decided that the Oregon
State Hospital must impose
strict limits on how long it
treats patients who have been
accused of crimes but in need
of mental health treatment.
The ruling by Judge
Michael W. Mosman seeks to
ease the state psychiatric hos-
pital’s overcrowding, speed
the admission of new patients
and prevent people awaiting
admission from languishing
in jail.
Eff ective immediately, the
hospital must release aid-and-
assist patients accused of mis-
demeanors within 90 days of
admission, and those accused
of felonies within six months of
admission. Those are patients
found by judge unable to par-
ticipate in their own defense at
trial.
The judge, however, also
gave three district attorneys
who opposed the motion until
January to monitor the dis-
charge of patients and pro-
vide alternatives that could
aid the hospital admissions
crisis. The prosecutors had
argued restricting treatment
times would result in peo-
ple accused of serious crimes
being released into the com-
munity before they’ve been
fully rehabilitated.
The judge’s decision over-
rules an Oregon law that
allows the hospital to hold
an aid-and-assist patient for
up to three years, or the max-
imum time that a person
could have been sentenced to
prison for their alleged crime,
whichever is shorter.
Amber Shoebridge, a state
hospital spokesperson, said
that under the restricted time-
lines, the hospital can still
keep patients for up to one
year who have been charged
with violent felony under
state law, such as causing or
threatening serious physical
injury or a sexual off ense.
Disability Rights Ore-
gon, the state’s largest dis-
ability advocacy group, and
Metropolitan Public Defend-
ers requested the order. The
groups have protested the
hospital’s lengthy admission
delays. Disability Rights Ore-
gon had previously won a
2002 court order that required
the hospital to admit aid-and-
assist patients within seven
days so they can get the men-
tal health treatment they need
instead of sitting untreated in
jail.
But the hospital has strug-
gled to meet that timeline,
and the pandemic only made
the problem worse.
Emily Cooper, legal direc-
tor for Disability Rights Ore-
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
The Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
‘WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE
THAT ARE GETTING HARMED
EVERY DAY THEY WAIT IN JAIL,
AND SOME WHO HAVE DIED.
THAT’S WHAT THIS IS TODAY, LET’S
MAKE SOME MORE ROOM TO GET
THOSE PEOPLE IN SOONER.’
Emily Cooper | legal director for Disability Rights Oregon
gon, said she was relieved by
Mosman’s decision.
“It’s a very promising fi rst
step,” Cooper said. “We’re
talking about people that are
getting harmed every day
they wait in jail, and some
who have died. That’s what
this is today, let’s make some
more room to get those peo-
ple in sooner.”
The hospital has identi-
fi ed about 100 people who
should be discharged imme-
diately under the new time-
line. They will be released
to treatment centers in their
home counties over the next
six months, Shoebridge said.
Counties will be given 30
days’ notice before a patient
is sent to them. She said the
release of those 100 patients
will not delay the discharge of
new patients as they become
eligible.
Patrick Allen, the direc-
tor of Oregon Health Author-
ity, said he looked forward
to working with community
groups to return patients to
their home counties.
The request to strictly limit
treatment times was based on
a court-ordered review of the
state hospital’s admissions
policies conducted earlier
this year by Michigan-based
mental health expert Dr.
Debra Pinals.
Pinals’ 35-page report
from June suggested the hos-
pital gradually decrease its
wait times for patients, aim-
ing for an average of 22
days or fewer at the start of
August; 11 days by January;
and to be back in compliance
with the 2000 federal court
order, averaging seven days
or fewer, by Feb. 14.
The hospital was not
on track to meet that goal,
prompting Disability Rights
Oregon to request new admis-
sions guidelines.
Documents that the state
hospital submitted to the
court show that in the fi rst
half of August, the hospi-
tal admitted 54 patients who
waited an average of 38 days
to get in.
The state hospital, over-
seen by the Oregon Health
Authority, did not oppose the
motion.
But three district attorneys
pushed back on the restric-
tions, saying patients charged
with signifi cant crimes should
not be released from treat-
ment prematurely. Billy Wil-
liams, the former U.S. attor-
ney for Oregon, argued on
behalf of the district attorneys
for Clackamas, Washington
and Marion counties.
The prosecutors said in a
joint statement Monday after-
noon that they plan to con-
tinue monitoring hospital
admissions, as per the judge’s
ruling. They called the lack of
opposition from the Oregon
Health Authority and the state
hospital “unusual.”
Kevin Barton, the Wash-
ington County District Attor-
ney, said the prosecutors felt
compelled to act because they
believe the restricted treat-
ment times will have a nega-
tive impact on public safety.
Some of the problems
dogging the state hospital,
such as overcrowding and
staff shortages, have also hit
community mental health
facilities.
Cooper, the Disability
Rights Oregon attorney, said
the lack of local mental health
beds is still a problem, but a
recent surge of state funds
dedicated to mental health
services should help accom-
modate patients as they go
back to their home counties.
Pinals’ investigation was
prompted by two federal
lawsuits over the hospital’s
admissions policies, includ-
ing the long-running dis-
pute with Disability Rights
Oregon and a separate law-
suit brought in November by
two Multnomah County men
found guilty of crimes except
for insanity. They argued the
state had violated their civil
rights by keeping them in jail
for six months despite being
ordered into treatment at the
state hospital.
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