As the new sheriff of Benton County, I had to make difficult decisions regarding service cuts when we lost the federal forest payments. The sheriff's office receives money from the state of Oregon, the jail bed rental levy, and the county's general fund.

Because the funds from the state and the jail bed rental levy are restricted, I could not move money from those sources to fund services such as 24-hour patrol and other basic programs.

Over the years, funding for the sheriff's office has been reduced as a result of diminished funds within the county.

A few years ago, the sheriff's office created a program of school resource deputies for the schools in the county through federal grants. Continuation of that program was dependent on a fourth year of funding by the county, either through the general fund or through a levy. But, the levy presented to the voters in order to continue the school resource deputy program was defeated, and the program was discontinued.

This program was successful, and we could see a difference in the types of crimes that children and teens were reporting accompanied by a reduction of local incidents of vandalism, criminal mischief, and curfew violations. After the program ended, crimes associated with juveniles in the rural areas increased.

With the passage of Measure 02-64, the sheriff's office could re-establish a school resource deputy associated with the rural schools - one that students can identify with and trust.

The passing of Measure 02-64 will ensure funding in the next several years to continue renting 40 additional jail beds along with the general operation of the local jail (which also has 40 beds). We currently are able to continue operation of the local jail, but if the county's revenues and expenses continue their same trend, it is likely we will have to reduce the number of local beds from 40 to 27. And, it could mean changing the current configuration to a holding facility which is simply a revolving door between arrests, courts, and the rental jails in other counties. Limiting jail space is a security risk because some inmates are released early from jail and transporting inmates to other facilities has risk.

The elimination of 24-hour patrol coverage has been significant. Deputies do not feel they are providing full services to Benton County residents and they dislike leaving residents without any deputy coverage when they finish their shift early in the morning. Additionally, when a significant incident occurs, such as the most recent homicide in Alsea and the recent extensive marijuana grow operation, we are left short-handed.

Due to our reduced staffing, when a major incident occurs, every one of our law enforcement deputies must respond in order to effectively and successfully manage the event. We have little or no coverage elsewhere during such times.

Our agency was once a proactive agency, but is now a reactive agency. Deputies have little time for self-initiated activities such as new investigations into the selling and manufacturing of methamphetamine, identity theft and theft of copper wire and pipes. We currently have only one detective who is assigned to investigate all sex and child abuse crimes in the county.

Without additional deputies, the sheriff's

office will continue to be simply a reactive agency and will not be able to meet the needs of all residents.

Nearly 88 percent of the 90 cents collected will go to public safety, and of that, more that half will go to the sheriff's office to restore deputy positions and continue to rent jail beds.

Please vote yes on Measure 02-64.

Diana L. Simpson is the sheriff of Benton County.