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35 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, December 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 21, 2004 Kevin Marks throws slash on a burn pile in Wildcat Canyon near Talent for a Jackson County Community Justice forest fuel reduction program. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Kupillas disputes work camp claim Citizen committee doesn’t OK sheriff’s plan to take over Community Justice By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Allegations that dangerous criminals are living in a county inmate work camp near Ruch are not founded, say officials with the county’s parole and probation department. Jackson County parole and probation authorities and county Commissioner Sue Kupillas said they took a closer look at the Star Gulch Forest Camp after Sheriff Mike Winters aired concerns about the presence of risky inmates. Winters’ claims figured into a recent proposal he made to assume responsibility for directing the parole and probation department, known as Community Justice. However, the information Winters presented recently to a citizen committee charged with evaluating his proposal may have been misleading. The committee in a Tuesday meeting did not recommend that commissioners adopt the sheriff’s plan to take over parole and probation. The sheriff said several forest camp offenders had records of murder and kidnapping. Yet in those two cases the charges were dismissed, said Dale Eller, manager of Community Justice’s work programs. In fact, the two men in question were serving time for DUII and domestic assault, Eller said. Kupillas said she verified that serious charges were dismissed in those two cases. Winters’ allegations about dangerous criminals in Ruch prompted her to review with Community Justice officials records for each of the 96 offenders who have gone through the program since it began a year ago, she said. Kupillas said she plans on comparing the sheriff’s evaluation method with Community Justice assessments of the forest camp crews. Advertisement "I don’t want there to be a shadow of a doubt," Kupillas said. Winters said he stands by his opinion that Community Justice misled Ruch residents about the kind of inmates at Star Gulch and should be housing certain offenders elsewhere. "They changed horses in the middle of the race and didn’t tell anybody," Winters said. "I’m concerned about the liability." While Community Justice officials say that none of the forest camp inmates are dangerous, they do acknowledge that the type of criminal housed there has changed over the past year. With last year’s closure of an 85-bed jail near Talent, the parole and probation department has to choose between housing more serious offenders in work camps or turning them out on the street, Eller said. "We’re taking these offenders now because we feel obligated to the system," Eller said. "The jail has become a revolving door." Program managers last year said most offenders at the forest camp were serving time for crimes such as driving under the influence, possession of drugs and petty thefts. Since that time, the forest camp has housed criminals convicted of domestic assault, burglary, vehicle theft, eluding police, strong-arm robbery, harassment and unlawful possession of a weapon, Eller said. Yet parole and probation officers are bound to look beyond criminal charges alone to the factors behind the crimes, which in many cases involve drug and alcohol abuse, Eller said. Officials also consider offenders’ past performance in work programs before placing them in one, he said. Commissioners said they wanted to more closely define the criteria for criminals working near Ruch. They also agreed with the citizen committee’s recommendation that reopening the Talent jail was an immediate priority. It was closed when state funding was reduced and the county reassigned its portion of funding to bolster sheriff’s department patrols, County Administrator Sue Slack said in Tuesday’s budget hearings. After hearing the citizen committee’s recommendation Thursday, commissioners are expected to make a final decision regarding the proposal to consolidate the parole/probation and sheriff’s departments. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities