Message From Sheriff Sickler On Jail Basement Closure (Photo) - 06/30/26

Dear Community,

Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) is making changes to jail operations due to the rising costs of providing public safety services. As part of these changes, the Jackson County Jail basement housing unit will close beginning July 1, reducing the jail's operational capacity from approximately 292 to 230 beds.

This decision is the result of a difficult financial reality facing our agency. Over the past several years, expenses have increased across nearly every area of our operation. Jail medical costs alone have doubled to more than $3 million per year, while personnel, equipment, and operational costs continue to rise significantly faster than available funding.

At the same time, JCSO has very limited ability to generate additional funding to offset these increasing expenses. To balance our budget, we have been forced to make difficult decisions about staffing, services, and operations, while remaining committed to protecting and serving the people of Jackson County.

Over the past three years, JCSO has eliminated more than 25 full-time positions. While we have worked hard to minimize impacts, these reductions have now affected the Corrections Bureau, making it difficult to operate the jail without significantly cutting other services we provide, such as patrol and detectives. I believe closing a portion of the jail is the least harmful option to our county long term.

With fewer jail beds available, some individuals arrested for lower-level offenses and subject to immediate mandatory release by Oregon Senate Bill 48 may no longer be lodged in the jail and instead may be cited and released. Despite this change we will remain committed to public safety and will be reviewing our practices regularly to ensure we are utilizing our resources in the best way possible.

Unfortunately, budget projections suggest these changes may remain in place for the foreseeable future. Even so, we remain committed to working with the Board of Commissioners, County leadership, community stakeholders, and our public safety partners to identify long-term solutions and advocate for the resources needed to meet the growing demands placed on our criminal justice system.

While jail capacity will be reduced, our commitment to protecting Jackson County remains unchanged.

Deputies will continue responding to calls, investigating crimes, protecting life, and working closely with our criminal justice partners to hold offenders accountable.

The men and women of JCSO remain dedicated to serving and protecting our community. We appreciate your understanding and support as we work through these challenges together.

Sincerely,

Sheriff Nate Sickler

Detectives Investigating Wimer Domestic Violence Homicide; Suspect In Custody (Photo) - 06/27/26

JCSO Case 26-3265

ROGUE RIVER, Ore. - Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) detectives are investigating a domestic violence homicide that occurred at a residence in rural Rogue River. The suspect is in custody. 

On Saturday, June 27 at 12:35 AM, ECSO Dispatch received a call from a man that he had shot a woman during a domestic violence altercation. JCSO deputies responded to the residence in the 1900 block of Sykes Creek Road and took the suspect into custody without incident. 

Next-of-kin has been notified. The victim is Onalea Clay, 59, of Wimer. Our condolences go out to her family and friends. The victim and suspect were in a domestic relationship. 

The suspect, Norman Henry Chapman, 80, of Wimer, is charged with second-degree murder. He was cleared for confinement at a local hospital before being lodged in the Jackson County Jail. 

Oregon State Police (OSP), Medford Police Department (MPD), Ashland Police Department (APD), and the Jackson County Major Assault Death Investigation Unit (MADIU) responded to assist. The OSP Forensics Lab processed the crime scene. 

MADIU consists of detectives from OSP, JCSO, MPD, Central Point Police Department, APD, and the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office. There is no further information available for release at this time.

Fatal Crash In Parking Lot Claims Life Of 81-Year-Old Central Point Woman PHOENIX PD CASE - 06/25/26

NOTE: This is a Phoenix Police Department case. For media inquiries email Phoenix Officer Cooper Kamps: ckamps@pxpd.org

PXPD Case 26-685

On Wednesday, June 24th 2026 at 7:04pm our officers were dispatched to the report of a vehicle vs pedestrian crash in the parking lot of a business in the 4400 block of South Pacific Highway in Phoenix, Ore. First responders and bystanders attempted life saving measures, but tragically the 81-year-old woman was pronounced deceased at the scene. Out of respect for the privacy of the decedent’s family, her name will not be released at this time.

The 62-year-old Medford man driving the involved 2019 Toyota Tundra remained on scene and cooperated with officers. Due to the ongoing investigation into the circumstances leading up to the collision, no further details will be released at this time.

This case is being investigated with the assistance of the Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) Team, a specialized unit dedicated to investigating fatal and complex serious injury collisions. The team operates through a collaborative interagency agreement between the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Medford Police Department, Ashland Police Department, and the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

We would like to extend our condolences to the decedent’s family, and extend our utmost gratitude and thanks to the bystanders who took it upon themselves to begin life saving measures prior to first responders arrival.

More information will be released as the investigation continues.

Task Force Busts Black-Market Marijuana Grow Hidden In Pear Orchard, Uncovers 25K Plants, 16K Lbs. Cannabis; Suspect Arrested (Photo) - 06/18/26

JCSO Case 26-2842

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. - Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET) detectives served a search warrant Tuesday, June 16 at a black-market cannabis grow in the 1000 block of Old Stage Road in rural Central Point. IMET detectives seized approximately 25,000 marijuana plants hidden in pear orchards, 16,000 lbs. of usable cannabis, and 1,470 plants in five “hoop-style” greenhouses.

IMET arrested one suspect in connection to the property. The suspect, Jorge Alexander Ruiz, 35, of Central Point, is charged with three felony counts of unlawful production, manufacture, and possession of a marijuana item.

There was no licensing for any type of cannabis growing, handling, or processing at this location. The farm applied for an Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) license for growing hemp while concealing cannabis starter plants in the pear orchard. IMET was assisted by Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET), and Oregon State Police (OSP).

While regulatory agencies investigate permitted cannabis operations, IMET is focusing on the black-market marijuana trade in the Rogue Valley. IMET is a multi-agency task force funded by a grant from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The task force includes personnel from JCSO, OSP, and the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

Oregon DOJ, Local Child Exploitation Task Force Case Leads To 176-Month Prison Sentence For 56-Year-Old Roseburg Man; Suspect Stockpiled 740,000+ Child Sexual Abuse Files, Among Largest Case In Recent Oregon History (Photo) - 06/04/26

ROSEBURG, Ore. - The Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that a Roseburg man has been sentenced to 14 years and 8 months in prison after pleading no contest to five counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The case was investigated by the Oregon DOJ Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET). The case centered on one of the largest collections of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) ever uncovered in Oregon – more than 740,000 files that the defendant had made available to anyone on a public file-sharing network.

“This is 740,000 instances of a child being exploited and that exploitation being spread,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. “This man didn’t just possess this material; he made it available to anyone who wanted it. This sentence reflects the severity of those choices, and I commend the dedicated investigators at SOCET and our ICAC Task Force who did the painstaking work to bring this case to justice.”

David Arthur Kelly, 56, of Roseburg, entered his plea this week before Douglas County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Johnson. Kelly told the judge he had “made a mistake.” Judge Johnson pointed to the sheer volume of files and told Kelly that what he did “was not a mistake, it was a series of repeated decisions to exploit children.”

Between June 2023 and August 2024, investigators with SOCET made nineteen separate connections to Kelly’s computer and downloaded numerous CSAM files through a publicly accessible peer-to-peer file sharing network. The Oregon DOJ ICAC Task Force took over the investigation in October 2024, identified Kelly as the suspect, and executed search warrants at his Roseburg home. What investigators found on his laptop told the full story – a one-terabyte hard drive packed with more than 740,000 CSAM files, every one of them set to share freely over the internet.

The case was prosecuted by Sr. AAG Elijah Michalowski of the DOJ Criminal Justice Division, appointed as Special Prosecutor by Douglas County DA Richard Wesenberg. Kelly was indicted by a Douglas County Grand Jury on November 6, 2025, on ten counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. Under the terms of a stipulated sentence, he will serve 176 months – just under 15 years – in state prison.