Crime Prosecution Hindered By Hiring Freeze

During the October 1 Board of Commissioners meeting, Lincoln County District Attorney Jenna Wallace spoke during public comment. She congratulated new hires, who were recognized at the beginning of the meeting, but had questions for commissioners regarding a hiring freeze that she was told was implemented for all departments in May. This was due to a $4-million budget shortfall for the county. She was told in the email that exceptions could be made for hiring upon request. She was not asking for all positions in her office to be unfrozen, but key personnel needed to make her office function, to enable the prosecution of cases, and ones that had already been allocated with grant funding, which the county had already received.

So far, D.A Wallace's requests for hires have not been responded to. Since June of this year, the county has congratulated 39-new hires. After providing her 3 minutes of public comment, she provided Public Information Officer Ken Lipp an order to sign granting an exception to the freeze for certain positions for her office. Commissioner Miller attempted to discuss the matter however, Commissioner Chuck quickly told him this was public comment and they were not going to respond. Later when Oregon Coast Breaking News asked about whether or not the board would be considering D.A. Wallace's order, Commissioner Chuck responded that he is not able to discuss the matter it is an HR issue.

The Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office has undergone a massive transition in the last 15 months, causing unprecedented staffing shortages in a county will already limited public safety resources. At the time, of Wallace's appointment the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office employed one (1) criminal deputy district attorney and was actively attempting to fill eight (8) vacant deputy district attorney positions – an unprecedented staffing crisis in the history of the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office.

Within the first three months, DA Wallace hired three (3) entry-level deputy district attorneys, as well as recruit Michael Thornicroft, a long-time Lincoln County resident with well-established ties to this community, to return to Lincoln County and fill the role of Chief Deputy District Attorney. Since then, the District Attorney’s Office has hired two (2) additional attorneys and currently has a total of five (5) criminal deputy district attorneys.

By January 2025, a mere six months after DA Wallace’s appointment, the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office was stabilizing and thriving. DA Wallace and Chief DDA Thornicroft were focused on training newly hired employees, keeping up with the difficult caseload, working through the backlog of uncharged referred cases, and recruiting qualified applicants for the final few positions. 

Just as the office was starting to gain ground, the 6-month hiring freeze was implemented by Chair Hall after management team meeting discussions. According to Commissioner Miller, he was not included in any discussion nor has he been informed of any policy decisions made that discussed how long the hiring freeze would be in place. Miller made several attempts to have agenda items added in an attempt to have public discussion regarding the budget shortfall and how it would affect different departments. His attempts to have these types of items added to the agenda have been denied. "I have asked my fellow commissioners to have these items become part of the public record and discussion," said Miller.

Lincoln County is currently budgeted for nine (9) criminal deputy district attorneys, with one of those positions being grant-funded through the State of Oregon’s Justice Reinvestment Program. The hiring freeze implemented by Commissioner Hall included this grant-funded position even after the County accepted the funding for the position from the State.

Other departments, such as the Sheriff’s Office, Health and Human Services, and Community Justice (Parole & Probation), have all been allowed to hire into their respective grant-funded positions. The grant-funded prosecutor position in the District Attorney’s Office is the only grant-funded position in the County that has been frozen. If these grant funds are not utilized, the County will have to return these funds back to the State.

To compound the issue, Commissioner Hall recently has initiated steps to eliminate the Executive Chief position and merge essential duties into the vacant Administrative Chief position. This was done even after receiving internal feedback that this type of restructuring is not possible or in the best interest of the District Attorney’s Office. Without any input from the District Attorney, steps to change the job description and/or eliminate the position have been taken regardless of the position having been budgeted for, approved by the Lincoln County Budget Committee, and adopted by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on June 18, 2025. 

In the past nine months, the District Attorney’s Office has become overwhelmed with an increase in crime and a rise in challenging caseloads. According to the Oregon Judicial Department, as of September 17, 2025, the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office has filed 1,391 criminal cases and is projected to file over 1,850 cases by end of year. This is a 24% increase since 2024 and does not include the backlog of over 360 cases awaiting review. This year alone, Lincoln County has seen a 112% increase in weapon offenses, 50% increase in property crime offenses, 32% increase in person crime offenses, and a 310% increase in drug offense. To put things in perspective, Tillamook County has filed roughly 400 criminal cases to date this year, 71% less than Lincoln County.

“I am not asking for any additional resources. I am simply advocating for the ability to use the funds already allotted to the District Attorney’s Office through the adoption of the 2025-2026 Lincoln County Budget”. Wallace said when hiring freezes directly impact public safety and the ability to seek justice for crime victims, exceptions to this freeze must be granted – much like they have already been granted in other county departments.

“I am struggling to understand why Commissioner Hall and Commissioner Chuck will not grant exceptions to the hiring freeze, particularly several key public-safety positions in the District Attorney’s Office. I need to be able to use the resources already allocated to my office through the public budget process to continue to rebuild and stabilize this office for the safety of our community.”