Josephine County, Ore. — Josephine County has been putting levies on ballots for years now, to try to help fund its public safety. After Tuesday night’s election, it finally has one levy that resonated well with 52% of the public – and passed.
Now, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office is ready to make good on all its promises. Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel breathing a sigh of relief after Election Day. The levy that will secure his staff and jail for the next four years passed.
“It’s a little overwhelming, to be honest with you,” Sheriff Daniel said.
Overwhelming because Josephine County has been trying for a levy to support public safety funding for several years.
“I don’t think confident was in my vocabulary about the levy. I was on the fence, I was hopeful that the citizens would come around to realizing that the sheriff’s office needed some help,” Sheriff Daniel said.
For years, Sheriff Daniel has been forced to watch as his force and his resources were taken away one by one – due to lack of funding.
“I don’t want to talk about the negatives – I don’t. It wouldn’t have been pretty,” Sheriff Daniel said.
It’s a scenario that would’ve ended in more cuts to the sheriff’s office – when it’s already been struggling to get by.
“We don’t want to live in a county that’s lawless. There has to be some ramification to people doing bad things,” Sheriff Daniel said.
Fortunately, for Sheriff Daniel – the levy didn’t fail this time. And the county isn’t wasting anytime to put that money to work.
“It goes to exactly where it was told to the voters,” Sheriff Daniel said.
With the additional funding, the county will be able to increase adult jail intake from 130 to 185, and the juvenile jail from 0 to 14.
“It’s a real boost to Josephine County,” Sheriff Daniel said.
A boost to the county – and its morale.
“We at the sheriff’s office, we’re in this to serve. We want to serve, now we have to make good on our promise,” Sheriff Daniel said.
The jails aren’t the only departments getting extra hands on board. The sheriff said there will be some allocation of funds where he will be able to increase road services, and NBC5 News would like to remind viewers, election results won’t be completely finalized for a couple weeks.
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