Lori Roach
resigns from
Heppner Chamber
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 8
8 Pages
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Irrigon looks at starting municipal court
However, move could affect city’s sheriff coverage
By David Sykes
Irrigon is looking to set
up its own municipal court
and begin handling tickets
and violations within the
city, a move that would take
fine money away from the
Justice Court and the coun-
ty budget. The proposal
sparked a long discussion at
a recent county commission
meeting.
Commissioners talked
about how the new city
court would impact the
county budget, and how
the change could affect the
county sheriff’s police cov-
erage contract with Irrigon.
Morrow County Sheriff
Ken Matlack was at the
February 2 meeting and part
of the discussion.
Matlack, who lives in
Irrigon and sits on the city
council, explained that if
the city does set up a munic-
ipal court it would handle
only tickets and code viola-
tions and no misdemeanors
or felonies.
Irrigon cur-
rently con-
tracts with
the sheriff’s
o ff i c e f o r
police cov-
erage and all
tickets writ-
ten by dep- Morrow
uties with- County
in the city Sheriff Ken
limits go to Matlack
the county
justice court, and likewise
the fines into the county
budget. None of the ticket
money goes to the city. This
is the same for all cities in
the county. Heppner has
a contract with the coun-
ty for police services and
all tickets and fine money
goes through justice court.
Boardman has its own po-
lice force and all tickets
and money also goes to the
justice court. Lexington and
Ione have no police force
and do not contract with
the county; however, the
sheriff still provides limited
police services, and again
all tickets and money from
those jurisdictions goes to
the county.
At the February 2
meeting commissioners
expressed concern the mon-
ey taken away from justice
court would have an impact
on the county budget and
could even reduce justice
court and sheriff’s office
staff, therefore changing
how policing is done in
Irrigon.
One county commis-
sioner believes Irrigon is
starting the new court be-
cause it has done financial
analysis and thinks it could
make more money on tick-
et income than the cost of
operating the new court.
“I would think Irrigon did
look at this because if they
think if they hire a munici-
pal judge and assistant and
pay a combined $150,000
and then they get ticket in-
come at worst it will break
even and at best it will make
a little revenue for them,”
Commission Chair Don
Russell said.
Justice Court offices in Irrigon
But Irrigon city offi-
cials say it’s not about the
money but more about ac-
countability, oversight and
supervision of the court.
“That’s what this is about,”
says Irrigon City Manag-
er Aaron Palmquist. “We
aren’t going to tell the mu-
nicipal court what to do, but
we do think we should have
some oversight,” he said of
the Irrigon City Council.
He gave as an example
how code enforcement is
handled by the justice court,
saying there sometimes is
not enough accountability
for violations. “We may
want a municipal court to
make violators more ac-
countable.”
As far as the cost of the
court Palmquist says it will
be nowhere near $150,000
to operate. He says the
city is looking at several
options including contract
judges to come in and hold
court once or maybe twice
a month. He says the city
has $59,000 budgeted for
the court next year, and with
an expected ticket revenue
of $20,000 income, the re-
maining $39,000 would be
made up from the general
fund.
Planning for the new
court has been in the works
since last May when the
city adopted an ordinance
spelling out court functions
and duties. The court will
not handle misdemeanors
or felonies and the judge is
required to be a member of
the Oregon State Bar and to
have malpractice insurance.
The fiscal impact on the
county budget of Irrigon
starting its own court was
discussed at length by the
commissioners, but at the
same time they talked about
the county sheriff’s police
protection contract with
the city. Irrigon currently
pays the county $95,000
per year for 40 hours of
police protection per week.
Palmquist says he has been
in talks with the sheriff to
provide next year’s ser-
vice at $98,000. Matlack
tied the city’s decision to
establish a municipal court
into the sheriff continuing
to provide a police protec-
tion contract, in which he
says Irrigon gets more than
they pay for. “I don’t think
the board (commissioners)
would go along with a con-
tract where the county is
getting paid for one posi-
tion that equals 160 hours
per month but in reality we
give 450 to 650 hours every
month,” Matlack says. He
told the commissioners the
city is pay-
ing for one
position but,
“They are
getting three
positions.”
He pointed
out that if the
city did not
Irrigon City have a con-
tract with the
Manager
Aaron
sheriff’s of-
Palmquist
fice then all
violations
will automatically go to
the justice court. Matlack
added that Irrigon has a
lot of police work to do in
the city. “I am on the city
council and understand
their issues. Because of
their growth they take a lot
of work on police services.
I don’t have an answer for
that,” he said. Palmquist
disputes the sheriff’s hours,
saying many are attributed
to Irrigon incorrectly and
should not be counted as
time spent in the city.
Boardman has their
own 11-person police de-
partment including a chief,
lieutenant, two sergeants, a
detective, four officers, one
school resource officer and
an office manager. Russell
says the Boardman depart-
ment’s budget is a “little
over two million dollars.”
Boardman does not have a
municipal court and all of
their tickets and fines go to
the justice court.
Heppner has had a con-
tract to provide police with
the county for many years.
It started out years ago at
three positions and 120
hours a week, but in recent
years is two positions and
80 hours per week. Hep-
pner City Manager Kraig
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Cutsforth says Heppner will
pay $178,683 for its police
contract this year. “The city
also sets aside money for
the purchase of vehicles at
a rate of $15,000 per year,”
he says. “We have been
informed to expect the cost
of the contract to raise at
least three percent per year
from this point forward.”
All the tickets and money
from fines goes to the jus-
tice court.
Lexington and Ione do
not have police contracts
with the sheriff’s office,
but the office still provides
police protection, however
no city code enforcement
is done by the sheriff ’s
deputies.
Morrow County Coun-
cil and District Attorney
Justin Nelson said the Irri-
gon municipal court would
take the money-making
violations away from the
justice court and leave the
money costing violations
behind. Nelson explained
how traffic and other
low-level violations are
typically tickets that get
paid. He said the new city
court would handle only
those type of offenses and
not the more expensive
misdemeanors and felonies.
He said those higher-level
crimes typically require
court appointed lawyers,
and on top of that the de-
fendants don’t normally
have the money to pay
fines that are levied against
them. “They cost the county
money,” he told the com-
missioners.
Matlack said an argu-
Lori Roach
Lori Roach, who began
her new job as executive
director of the Heppner
Chamber on July 1, has
decided to resign. Roach
took over the position from
Sheryll Bates when Bates
retired.
Lori and her husband,
Rick, moved to Heppner in
April 2020 from their most
recent home in North Bon-
neville, WA, which is just
across the river from the
Bridge of the Gods. While
living there, she and Rick
operated Studio 6 Design-
works where they published
The Gorge Business News
newspaper that is distrib-
uted from Lyle to Camas
in Washington and from
Troutdale to The Dalles in
Oregon.
Lori and Rick intend to
stay in Heppner where Lori
will work as an independent
business consultant.
Lori wrote the follow-
ing letter to the residents
of Heppner, Lexington and
Ione:
Dear Heppner, Lexington and Ione,
I moved to Heppner in April 2020 at the very be-
ginning of this pandemic we are all involved with, to
become the executive director of the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce. I came with high hopes that the chamber
would be a perfect fit for me. I soon found out, that while
there were a lot of great things about working at the
chamber, it also came with some challenging aspects I
did not expect. I started eight months ago and sadly my
role as the executive director of the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce has ended this week, two weeks after I
tendered my resignation to my board of directors.
Times are tough and change can be hard. I don’t think
the job was quite what I had expected, and I don’t think
I was quite what my board had expected, so we will be
parting ways. I believe I can better represent and help
businesses throughout Morrow County and northeast
Oregon as an independent, creative business consultant.
I want to say thank you to so many of you that wel-
comed me here with open arms. I have made some great
friends along the way and recently bought a house with
my husband Rick, so we do not plan on leaving any time
soon.
I often joke that I have had so much fun since coming
to town, because all I have done is give away money and
Christmas presents. While that is partially true, it was the
process of getting to know those of you who came into my
office that I am most thankful for. Together we hammered
out grant paperwork, or brainstormed about your business,
or found joy in the great Christmas presents that were
donated for the Heppner Christmas event. The friends I
find along the way are always my biggest blessing, and
if we happened to find each other here, please know that
just because I am no longer at the chamber does not mean
that I am done cheering you and your business on. Please
feel free to call me for brainstorming sessions, help with
grants, and ‘hey you can do this’ encouragement. My
new email is lori.mcbn@gmail.com if you would like to
contact me that way.
I want to thank my Heppner Chamber of Commerce
board and my Willow Creek Valley Economic Develop-
ment Group board for giving me the opportunity to meet
so many wonderful people. My work in Morrow County
is only just beginning, and I am so excited for the direc-
tion my journey is taking me. It has been great getting to
know those of you I have gotten the chance to know. I
appreciate your understanding of this personal decision
and I look forward to working with all of you, for the
betterment of our communities, over the coming years.
Sincerely,
Lori Roach
ment being heard around
Irrigon now is the citizens
of Irrigon pay county tax-
es which in part fund the
sheriff’s office. That mon-
ey people contend should
be counted as money paid
to the sheriff for services.
“The discussion is ‘we
don’t want to pay more
because we are already pay-
ing taxes.’ Maybe they are
paying more. I can’t answer
that,” Matlack said.
Commissioners were
told that with the proper-
ty valuations within the
Irrigon city limits those
properties pay $255,000 per
year into the county. “Two
hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars isn’t a lot
for all county services,”
Russell pointed out. The
sheriff ’s office is about
21 percent of the general
fund county expenditures,
and eight percent of the
total overall yearly county
budget.
Commissioner Melissa
Lindsay said some work
needs to be done on a fiscal
analysis of all this, includ-
ing how much of the sher-
iff’s budget the Irrigon tax-
-See IRRIGON/PAGE TWO
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