Category Archives: Law

Articles, Curry, Infrastructure, Law, Local Government, Regional News

Curry County Removed Lead Paint At Jail, Waiting On New Bunks

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Though he didn’t speak up earlier, Curry County’s director of operations said complying with a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be “a lot to ask” when there’s only 16 beds in the jail.

About a month after the discovery of lead paint in its bunk beds prompted the Board of Commissioners to cut the jail’s capacity from 35 to 16 beds, Ted Fitzgerald, who also acts as county counsel, said the county was still waiting on permanent replacements.

“We still have the temporaries in there until we get the permanence delivered,” he said, referring to temporary bunk beds Curry County borrowed from Josephine County shortly after he notified commissioners of the lead paint concerns at an emergency meeting April 4. “The old bunks have been cleared. Maintenance went in there and cut them out. They were metal, installed directly into the concrete, and so, in order to keep things safe, we had to cut the metal and then grind the concrete down…”

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Articles, Curry, Law, Local Government

Following Mixed Public Response, Curry County Commissioner Says He Didn’t Intend A Vote On ICE Resolution

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Curry County Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he didn’t intend for his colleagues to take official action on a resolution honoring detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Taken verbatim from a similar resolution Coos County commissioners have been discussing since January, Hollinger asked his colleagues to consider Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state and the possibility that the Trump administration may cut its federal funding as a result.

“That will directly affect our county as well,” Hollinger said Wednesday. “We use those funds for our DA office. We use those funds for our sheriff’s office. And it’s those two offices that can help with the human trafficking and drug trafficking [occurring] throughout our county.”

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Articles, Community News, Humboldt, Law, Local Government

Eureka Mayor Says Homelessness Discussion ‘Needs To Happen’ Even If Proposed Ordinance Doesn’t Pass

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Eureka City Councilman G. Mario Fernandez used the phrase “robber baron” when asking his colleagues to postpone consideration of an ordinance that would increase the penalties for people living in unauthorized encampments.

Fernandez urged his fellow councilors to refer the ordinance to an ad-hoc committee on camping alternatives consisting of himself and Councilwoman Renee Contreras-DeLoach rather than consider it on May 20.

This request echoed comments several public speakers made on Tuesday about removing the proposed ordinance from the May 20 agenda. Though a handful of commenters accused the City Council of criminalizing homelessness, Fernandez said speakers were asking him and his colleagues to either let them be part of their deliberations or to bring “those with experience into the discussion.”

Continue reading Eureka Mayor Says Homelessness Discussion ‘Needs To Happen’ Even If Proposed Ordinance Doesn’t Pass →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Crime, Law

DNSO Seeks Person Of Interest Connected With Suspected Arson

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office. Above: The DNSO is asking residents in the vicinity of the 1400 block of West Macken for assistance in seeking a person-of-interest connected with a suspected arson.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a person-of-interest connected with a suspected arson that took place at a home on the 1400 block of West Macken Avenue in Crescent City at about noon Wednesday.

The fire has rendered the home uninhabitable, Undersheriff Devon Perry told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. The DNSO is currently building a case and is seeking information about an individual who was wearing dark colored clothing and was seen on video surveillance leaving the area, though Perry said he was unable to release further details about the subject.

“A neighbor saw smoke coming out from underneath the residence, contacted the tenant of that residence and discovered there was a fire going on underneath,” Perry said. “The fire department was contacted and upon arrival requested deputy assistance for suspected arson.”

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Law, Local Government

Curry Commissioners Cite 2007 Oregon Appeals Court Ruling When Discussing Dispute With Sheriff

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Thumbnail: Screenshot

Though the outcome of a declaratory judgment against the sheriff is still pending, Curry County’s newest commissioner told his colleagues of a 2007 Oregon Appeals Court ruling that may apply to the current situation.

Referring to an ongoing dispute between the Board of Commissioners and Sheriff John Ward, Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he and Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald received information about Daniel v. The Board of County Commissioners for Josephine County.

“A lot of the back and forth, or the lack of back and forth, between the commissioners and the sheriff is [about] who has authority over what and why,” Hollinger told his colleagues Wednesday. “And as we all know, we have a declaratory judgment that we’re still waiting to have happen, but this covers a couple of those items within our declaratory judgment. And that would be positions within the sheriff’s department and who picks and chooses those positions and how those positions are funded.”

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Infrastructure, Law

Discovery of Lead Paint on Bunk Beds Force Curry County Commissioners To Reduce Jail Capacity

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Thumbnail photo: Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Lead paint on bunks at the Curry County Jail prompted commissioners to temporarily reduce the facility’s capacity, cutting its number of beds from 35 to 16.

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office will be more judicious about who they accept into the jail as a result, according to Lt. Jeremy Krohn. But it’s the less drastic of two options he presented to commissioners at an emergency meeting on Friday. The alternative was to completely evacuate the jail, he said.

Some staff have already been relocated, Krohn said.

Continue reading Discovery of Lead Paint on Bunk Beds Force Curry County Commissioners To Reduce Jail Capacity →
Articles, Community News, Health, Law

Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours

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Thumbnail photo: Concept art of the Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope mobile mental health crisis response van. Above: Supervising Behavioral Health Specialist Mariah Coats and two of PATH’s team members, Certified Peer Support Specialist Ryan Downs and Behavioral health Specialist Aaron Matthess. | Photos courtesy of Shiann Hogan

Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope, or PATH, program has responded to 27 calls for help since it launched nearly two months ago.

In a majority of those cases, the staff manning the new mobile mental health crisis unit have helped those individuals come up with a safety plan and have followed up with those folks, Behavioral Health Branch Deputy Director Shiann Hogan told Redwood Voice Community News.

But, while it’s a resource anyone, including law enforcement, can call upon, PATH is currently only available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday due to staffing issues.

Continue reading Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Law, Local Government

Though He’ll Enforce State Law, Sheriff Advises Harbor District To Hold Off On Administrative Fines For Illegal Fireworks This Year

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Thumbnail: Illegal fireworks on South Beach rivaled professional display Crescent City put on near the North Jetty in this July 4, 2018 photo | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday broke off pursuit of an agreement with the county enabling them to levy fines aimed at curtailing illegal fireworks within their jurisdiction, taking advice from their harbormaster and, through him, the Del Norte County Sheriff.

Sheriff Garrett Scott said his deputies and officers from other agencies will still enforce state law prohibiting fireworks that explode, go into the air and move erratically on the ground this Independence Day. This includes citing and arresting anyone selling, displaying or possessing illegal fireworks in violation of the California Penal Code as well as confiscating dangerous fireworks.

He said he also wanted to see how his office handles enforcing Del Norte County’s new fireworks ordinance, which was established in October and also includes a fee structure.

Continue reading Though He’ll Enforce State Law, Sheriff Advises Harbor District To Hold Off On Administrative Fines For Illegal Fireworks This Year →
Articles, Community News, Curry, Law

Curry County Sheriff Takes To Facebook After BOC Transfers K9 Vehicles To Brookings

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Curry County commissioners on Tuesday green lit a proposal to transfer four vehicles to the Brookings Police Department for use in its K9 program.

They reached this decision after learning that BPD would make its dogs available to other agencies in the county. But it prompted Sheriff John Ward to rehash a long-standing grievance via Facebook on Wednesday.

“This was all done without a conversation with me or even one word, no communication,” he posted on the Curry County Justice Facebook page. “They even demanded that I turn over all duplicate keys to all our vehicles. It sounds insane, but that is what is going on.”

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Articles, Community News, Law, Local Government

A Look at the 2025 LEADN Award Ceremony

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Redwood Voice Reporter Ethan Caudill-DeRego.

Friends, family, and other community members came together on March 13th to honor local law enforcement at the Cultural Center on Front Street. The award ceremony kicked off with the Pelican Bay Honor Guard bringing out the flags of the United States, State of California, and Yurok Tribe. Former Crescent City Mayor Blake Inscore followed up the pledge and anthem with a religious invocation.

Awards recipients included staff of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Crescent City Hall, Del Norte County Probation Department, Redwood National & State Parks, Pelican Bay State Prison, California Department Of Fish & Wildlife, Yurok Tribal Police, and the Del Norte County District Attorney.

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