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News Release

Ability To Prosecute Crime In Lincoln County Severely Impacted By County Hiring Freezes In District Attorney’s Office (Photo) - 09/26/25

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. On June 21, 2024, due to an early vacancy, Jenna Wallace was appointed by Governor Tina Kotek as the Lincoln County District Attorney after winning the May 2024 primary election. At the time, 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.

 

Due to this extreme staffing shortage, the Oregon Department of Justice temporarily assisted the office by assigning an assistant attorney general to help with prosecution. However, this was only a short-term solution until the District Attorney’s Office could stabilize and fill vacant deputy district attorney positions to keep up with the demanding caseload. 

 

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. 

 

In April 2025, after interviewing and making hiring recommendations to fill the two final vacant prosecutor positions, Commissioner Claire Hall abruptly implemented a hiring freeze on the remaining two positions – causing an unexpected halt to any forward progress. Commissioner Hall indicated that these hiring freezes, along with others, would be done without a public meeting and without a full Board vote.

 

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 grand-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.

 

Currently, the District Attorney’s Office has 10 vacant positions with 9 of those positions having been frozen by Commissioner Hall, despite repeated requests for 5 exceptions specifically based on community safety concerns and over-all public necessity. Commissioner Hall and Commissioner Walter Chuck have denied all five of these requests. These requests include exceptions for three (3) deputy district attorney positions, the detective position, as well the Executive Chief, an upper management position responsible for not only supervising crime victim advocates and child support enforcement but is fundamental in coordinating Lincoln County’s statutorily mandated multidisciplinary teams to ensure appropriate investigation and swift prosecution in child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence cases.

 

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.

 

Without adequate resources, staffing, and the ability to hire employees, criminal prosecution may become delayed resulting in a lack of accountability for criminal behavior. It is a very real possibility that if the District Attorney’s Office is restricted from filing positions already approved by the budget, it will impact the types of cases charged, how cases are resolved, and will have an impact on community safety. “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”. DA Wallace understands the County wants to resolve their massive budget shortfall through county-wide vacancy savings. However, 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. This is especially true when the District Attorney’s Office has consistently underspent over the past decade and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars back to the general fund at the end of every budget cycle.

 

“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.” DA Wallace says her office just doesn’t have the ability to give every case the attention it deserves during this county-created staffing shortage. Until Commissioner Hall rescinds the hiring freeze or approves exceptions to freeze, the District Attorney’s Office will be unable to keep up with the demand and may be forced to prioritize which cases can be feasibly charged with limited staff.

 

Lincoln County must choose to prioritize public safety positions at all levels of our criminal justice system: law enforcement, criminal prosecution, and probation. The Lincoln County District Attorney is asking citizens to contact Commissioner Hall or Commissioner Chuck in-person, by email, or by public comment at the next Board of Commissioner’s meeting on October 1, 2025, at 10:00 AM to express the importance of unfreezing key public safety positions in the District Attorney’s Office for justice, accountability, and overall safety in our community.

Attached Media Files: 9.26.2025 DA Staffing Shortage.jpg, 9.26.2025 DA Staffing Shortage.pdf,

Ability To Prosecute Crime In Lincoln County Severely Impacted By County Hiring Freezes In District Attorney’s Office (Photo) - 09/26/25

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. On June 21, 2024, due to an early vacancy, Jenna Wallace was appointed by Governor Tina Kotek as the Lincoln County District Attorney after winning the May 2024 primary election. At the time, 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.

 

Due to this extreme staffing shortage, the Oregon Department of Justice temporarily assisted the office by assigning an assistant attorney general to help with prosecution. However, this was only a short-term solution until the District Attorney’s Office could stabilize and fill vacant deputy district attorney positions to keep up with the demanding caseload. 

 

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. 

 

In April 2025, after interviewing and making hiring recommendations to fill the two final vacant prosecutor positions, Commissioner Claire Hall abruptly implemented a hiring freeze on the remaining two positions – causing an unexpected halt to any forward progress. Commissioner Hall indicated that these hiring freezes, along with others, would be done without a public meeting and without a full Board vote.

 

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 grand-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.

 

Currently, the District Attorney’s Office has 10 vacant positions with 9 of those positions having been frozen by Commissioner Hall, despite repeated requests for 5 exceptions specifically based on community safety concerns and over-all public necessity. Commissioner Hall and Commissioner Walter Chuck have denied all five of these requests. These requests include exceptions for three (3) deputy district attorney positions, the detective position, as well the Executive Chief, an upper management position responsible for not only supervising crime victim advocates and child support enforcement but is fundamental in coordinating Lincoln County’s statutorily mandated multidisciplinary teams to ensure appropriate investigation and swift prosecution in child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence cases.

 

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.

 

Without adequate resources, staffing, and the ability to hire employees, criminal prosecution may become delayed resulting in a lack of accountability for criminal behavior. It is a very real possibility that if the District Attorney’s Office is restricted from filing positions already approved by the budget, it will impact the types of cases charged, how cases are resolved, and will have an impact on community safety. “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”. DA Wallace understands the County wants to resolve their massive budget shortfall through county-wide vacancy savings. However, 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. This is especially true when the District Attorney’s Office has consistently underspent over the past decade and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars back to the general fund at the end of every budget cycle.

 

“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.” DA Wallace says her office just doesn’t have the ability to give every case the attention it deserves during this county-created staffing shortage. Until Commissioner Hall rescinds the hiring freeze or approves exceptions to freeze, the District Attorney’s Office will be unable to keep up with the demand and may be forced to prioritize which cases can be feasibly charged with limited staff.

 

Lincoln County must choose to prioritize public safety positions at all levels of our criminal justice system: law enforcement, criminal prosecution, and probation. The Lincoln County District Attorney is asking citizens to contact Commissioner Hall or Commissioner Chuck in-person, by email, or by public comment at the next Board of Commissioner’s meeting on October 1, 2025, at 10:00 AM to express the importance of unfreezing key public safety positions in the District Attorney’s Office for justice, accountability, and overall safety in our community.

Attached Media Files: 9.26.2025 DA Staffing Shortage.jpg, 9.26.2025 DA Staffing Shortage.pdf,