Agreement with county provides up to three beds through February 2027
By Kevin Opsahl, Rogue Valley Times
The Ashland Police Department has gained an additional Jackson County Jail bed to reserve for offenders arrested for committing low-level crimes in the city.
The new agreement between the county and the city of Ashland calls for up to three beds, at $110 per day per bed, from March 1, 2024, to Feb. 28, 2027.
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ unanimous vote Wednesday ratified the agreement and made it retroactive to March 1.
Ashland police have had an intergovernmental agreement for bed space at the jail since April 2016.
Ashland police Chief Tighe O’Meara told the Rogue Valley Times that his police department sees repeat offenders and oftentimes uses up the two beds the agency already reserves at the jail.
“What we were seeing was that both of our jail beds would be occupied, and then we’d have the same situation of … someone constantly acting out … time and time again,” said O’Meara, who approached the county about getting an additional jail bed at the request of his officers.
O’Meara acknowledged the third bed is not a substantial increase, but “I do think it will make a difference.”
He added, “Did the second bed make a difference? Yes, I can tell you that it did.”
Board Chairman Rick Dyer said in an interview after the meeting that he agrees with O’Meara’s assessment of Ashland’s public safety needs.
Dyer pointed to the intergovernmental agreement between the county and the city of Medford that provides its police department with up to eight beds per day.
“It has been pivotal in doing what they need to do for public safety here, in Medford, and quality of life — make sure the people who need to be held are held,” Dyer said. “I am sure Ashland experiences the same types of issues. So we’re always eager to help and cooperate and collaborate with any other local jurisdiction in any way we can.”
Capt. Joshua Aldrich, commander of the jail, told the Times that, historically, some of the first defendants to be released from the facility are those charged in municipal court.
“Those people came and left the jail pretty quickly,” Aldrich said. “In the conversation with both Ashland and Medford separately, we recognized, even if we could hold those people even for a short period of time, then those municipal courts could really help get them into services. We felt like that could benefit the liability of our community all the way around.”
The agreement between the city of Ashland and the county does not mean kicking out an offender charged with a violent crime, according to Aldrich.
“We just make sure that those people from the municipal arrests that come to jail are held a little bit longer,” he said.
O’Meara said that just because his police department has an additional jail bed reserved does not mean the agency will seek a fourth.
“At some point, we’ve just gotta say we’re going to make do with what we have,” he said.
Reporter Kevin Opsahl can be reached at 458-488-2034 or [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.
Related story: Breaking the cycle: Additional county jail bed to be reserved for use by the city of Ashland (Feb. 23, 2024)
