At the beginning of March, the Columbia County jail housed about 70 local offenders, including 16 booked for crimes like rape, assault or attempted murder.

But if Columbia County voters decide not to renew the tax levy that funds much of the jail’s operations, all but the most dangerous offenders in the jail will have to be released, according to Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley.

“We’re in a dire strait,” Pixley said.

On the ballot for the upcoming May 20 election is a renewal of the existing jail tax levy, which taxes property owners at a rate of 58 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in order to fund jail operations. The renewal ask comes after voters previously shot down initiatives to raise the tax by 29 cents in May 2024 and 21 cents in November in order to keep up with increasing operational costs.

Should voters shoot down the levy for the third time, Pixley said the jail will close — and he’s not bluffing.

“If it does not pass, we run out of funding June 30,” Pixley said. “It’s pretty drastic, pretty quick.”

What’s different this time?

The Columbia County jail has three main funding streams:

• Bed rentals by the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal inmates, totaling to about $3.4 million.
• Contributions from the county’s general fund, totaling about $1 million annually.
• Property taxes gained by the jail tax levy, totaling about $3.5 million.

The jail tax levy was initially passed by voters in 2014, when the jail was likely to close without an additional source of funding. Voters renewed the levy in 2016 and 2020, and it is set to expire June 30, leaving a nearly $3.5 million gap in funding.

Most everyone has been impacted by rising costs of goods and services, and the jail is no exception. During a meeting of the St. Helens City Council, Pixley explained that previous ballot measures asking voters to increase the levy were aimed at maintaining the same ratio of U.S. Marshal bed rentals to local offenders, despite rising costs.

Now that voters have rejected the increase twice, Pixley hopes that people will be more willing to vote in favor knowing it won’t raise taxes, and he said he plans to increase the number of U.S. Marshal bed rentals to compensate for the increased cost of housing local offenders.

“This time, I heard what the voters said loud and clear — they don’t want to pay any additional taxes,” Pixley said during the meeting. “I sat down and figured out how we can make the jail run (at) status quo-ish on the same amount of money.”

The funds raised from the levy can only be used to fund the jail, Pixley said, and the county has a citizen advisory committee that ensures the money is spent correctly.

“I can’t use it for patrol; I can’t use it for any other purposes. It’s strictly to run the jail,” Pixley said.

What happens if the jail closes?

Should voters reject the levy again, the Columbia County jail will convert into a book-and-release center.

Much of the 25 staff who currently operate the jail would be let go, with a few employees retained to operate the book-and-release center.

The county would then contract with another jail to rent space to house a small number of people accused of the most severe crimes. Local offenders would be triaged during booking with a matrix that prioritizes holding those who pose the greatest risk to the community. Those arrested would either be released or transported to another facility, depending on which crime is deemed the “lesser evil”, potentially triggering the release of another offender who was occupying the rented space before them in order to make room.

Take former St. Helens High School choir teacher Eric Stearns, for example, who is accused of sexually abusing multiple students in a case that has rocked the community. Stearns is being held at the Columbia County jail after having been denied bail.

“His highest crime is a B felony,” Pixley said. “So if we were full and we had an A felony come in, we might have to release this person to make room for someone else.”

Why does it matter?

If the levy fails again, Pixley said he expects to see crime rates rise in Columbia County.

“I think (residents) would see an increase in crime, because there’s going to be no accountability for criminals. They would see a decrease in police coverage, because no cop is going to want to work in a county that you can’t hold people accountable.”

The courts system would also be impacted, Municipal Judge Amy Lindgren told the St. Helens City Council.

“I think if there are not jail beds available to the court, I don’t see how the municipal court can process criminal cases,” Lindgren said. “It would be like having a traffic court where you can’t enforce consequences.”

But if the levy is successful, Pixley is confident the jail can continue to operate with the changes he has planned.

“We’re not fluff. We’re doing this to run the operation and that’s it,” Pixley said.