Skip to content Skip to main navigation Skip to footer

2020 Safety and Justice background and history

2020 Safety and Justice background and history

TIMELINE:

  • February – DLR Group begins conceptual predesigns.
  • June – DLR Group begins site analysis for more than 40 potential locations.
  • December – Safety and Justice Advisory Committees are formed.

Committees

Leadership & Advisory Committees

The Benton County Board of Commissioners in collaboration with the Benton County Sheriff and County Administrator, are the primary decision-makers for the Safety and Justice operations. The Board of Commissioners—with input from staff, advisory committees, and the public—are responsible for directing the County Administrator to implement the recommendations for the Safety and Justice operations.

Community Advisory Committee

The Community Advisory Committee was formed in 2020 to serve as advisors during the first round of community engagement. The committee included a diverse collection of community members from across the County. The committee met from December 2020 to June 2021 and began meeting again in July 2022. This committee was a key link to the broader Benton County communities and provided input and feedback on evolving conceptual designs to ensure alignment with Benton County’s core values and the objectives of the 2018 assessment.

Technical Advisory Committee

This group met monthly starting in November 2020 and completed their work in June 2021. This committee included subject-matter experts, both internal to the County, as well as members at-large, who advised on issues spanning the justice system and relative to program objectives. The following individuals served on this committee:

  • Captain John Devaney, Benton County Sheriff’s Office
  • Chief Nick Hurley, (former Chief) Corvallis Police Department
  • Chief Marcia Harnden, Albany Police Department
  • Amie Matusko, Senior Deputy DA, District Attorney’s Office
  • Chris Westfall, Trial Court Administrator
  • Dannielle Brown, (former) Benton County Director Behavioral Health
  • Paul Wallsinger, Benton County Director Facilities
  • Representative, Benton County Finance
  • Representative, City of Corvallis Community Development
  • At-Large
    Mike Flinn, Defense Consortium
  • At-Large
    Professor David Trejo, OSU Engineering
  • At-Large
    Professor Brett Burkhardt, OSU Sociology
  • At-Large
    Stacy Mellem, Community Volunteer and Technical Advisory Committee liaison
  • At-Large
    Rick Hein, Governor’s Citizen Representative, Willamette Criminal Justice Council
  • At-Large
    Bill Bouska, Director of Community Solutions and Government Affairs, Samaritan Health Services

One or more of the at-large members served on the Community Advisory Committee in a liaison capacity. Other representatives from the City and County were invited to participate as needed.

2020 News

Community Advisory Committee for Benton County’s Criminal Justice System Improvement project to meet Tuesday, Dec. 8 – Dec. 4, 2020

Benton County’s Criminal Justice System Improvement project will have its’ first Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 from 3:30-5:00 p.m.

The CAC is one of two advisory committees on the Criminal Justice System Improvement project, with the other being the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). While the CAC comprises community members throughout Benton County, the TAC consists of individuals from key stakeholder groups that have more specialized knowledge of the project and the 2019 Criminal Justice System Assessment that guides their work. Both committees will advise City and County leadership and the project manager in critical project decisions.

The CAC will focus its scope of work on the Criminal Justice System Improvement project, specifically the Predesign Phase. The committee’s input will help prioritize and narrow the many recommendations from the Criminal Justice System Assessment on proposed facilities and programs.

Openings remain for members of the community to formally serve on the committee. All CAC meetings are open to the public, providing the opportunity to participate on an ad hoc basis. Meetings for the CAC will be held virtually every other month, with the possibility of additional meetings if needed. The first meeting will include a focus on an informational presentation from Project Manager Nick Kurth and the design consultant, DLR Group, with opportunities for group discussion.

Attendees can join the meeting here: https://bit.ly/BentonCoGov-CJSI_CACmeeting
Meeting ID: 984 7183 3909

Return to Safety & Justice background
Back to top