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News Release

RESTORE Court Eliminated Due To Lack Of State Funding Following Recriminalization Of Drugs And Creation Of Statutory Deflection Programs - 01/08/26

Criminal Justice Commission reduces Marion County’s deflection funding by more than half a million dollars

 

January 8, 2026 – Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson has informed local partners that the innovative diversionary treatment program “RESTORE” (Restitution and Treatment on Route to Expungement) Court must cease operations due to insufficient funding from the State. While the county is committed to completing the program for current participants, it will not be sustained into the future with any new enrollment.  DA Clarkson said, “I am truly disappointed that our State could not see the value in an operational program that sought to get offenders the treatment they need while simultaneously making victims whole and helping our community in the process.”   She added, “This is exactly the type of wholistic thinking our state leaders should champion and not punish.” 

 

Background:  In 2024, HB 4002 recriminalized drugs following the failed decriminalization effort of Ballot Measure 110.  As part of that new statutory structure under HB 3069 (2025), the Oregon Legislature offered funding – allocated through the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) to encourage counties to create deflection programs that offer treatment instead of criminal justice sanctions for users caught with small amounts of narcotics.

 

Marion County’s decade-old LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) Program has been widely regarded as a national best practice diversion model. Under HB 4002, most other communities scrambled to create LEAD-like programs, and Marion County spearheaded training for communities and programs around the state. Additionally, Marion County saw an opportunity to do more.  “When the state passed HB 4002, we were already doing deflection right - with accountability and compassion that was truly making a difference.  We wanted to take these concepts further and help even more people that were not otherwise eligible for basic deflection under LEAD. HB 3069 gave us the funding to do that,” said DA Clarkson, “and RESTORE was created.”

 

RESTORE Court partnered the DA with Marion County Judges, the Marion County Health Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to help offenders who owed restitution to victims of property crimes such as Criminal Mischief, Forgery or Theft and therefore could not benefit from LEAD. RESTORE Court participants instead entered a court-ordered diversionary probation with appropriate treatment and other wrap-around services while simultaneously working off their restitution via community service. The dollars earned through their community service were used to pay restitution to the victims of their crime. If they successfully completed treatment and their restitution obligation, the DA agreed to dismiss the charges and expunge the individual’s record – a benefit not otherwise available. “This program was a win-win-win. The offender receives the help they need through treatment and the ability to move forward without the burden of a criminal conviction. The victim is made financially whole.  And the community received a benefit from real, meaningful service, usually in the form of a work crew,” said DA Clarkson. “But we need proper funding to offer this type of criminal justice programming. CJC provided the money to do that in the first allocation. Now CJC changed their formula.”

 

The funding formula adopted by the CJC as a result of HB 3069 reduced the allocation Marion County will receive for both its deflection programs, despite LEAD’s proven, data-driven benefits. Instead, more dollars were directed to counties who merely say that they will have the ability to serve larger numbers of participants in the future. The result is a disproportionate allocation that rewards counties for aspirational projections, while reducing support for established programs.    

 

“It’s hard to quantify the impact of a program like LEAD and our fledgling RESTORE Court by simply counting the number of participants,” said DA Clarkson. “You can’t put a dollar figure on a parent who becomes stable and breaks the cycle of dependency and homelessness, or on the benefit of successfully righting a wrong. Helping even one person in these ways can make meaningful, lasting change that has a ripple effect throughout our community – not to mention the value it brings directly to victims.  But to fund imaginary programs that don’t yet even exist at the expense of an operational, ground-breaking, collaborative system is a missed opportunity.” 

 

With RESTORE Court unable to move forward, existing funding will be used to ensure the continuation of the existing LEAD program putting Marion County right back where it was before all the dollars spent on HB 4002.

 

RESTORE Court Eliminated Due To Lack Of State Funding Following Recriminalization Of Drugs And Creation Of Statutory Deflection Programs - 01/08/26

Criminal Justice Commission reduces Marion County’s deflection funding by more than half a million dollars

 

January 8, 2026 – Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson has informed local partners that the innovative diversionary treatment program “RESTORE” (Restitution and Treatment on Route to Expungement) Court must cease operations due to insufficient funding from the State. While the county is committed to completing the program for current participants, it will not be sustained into the future with any new enrollment.  DA Clarkson said, “I am truly disappointed that our State could not see the value in an operational program that sought to get offenders the treatment they need while simultaneously making victims whole and helping our community in the process.”   She added, “This is exactly the type of wholistic thinking our state leaders should champion and not punish.” 

 

Background:  In 2024, HB 4002 recriminalized drugs following the failed decriminalization effort of Ballot Measure 110.  As part of that new statutory structure under HB 3069 (2025), the Oregon Legislature offered funding – allocated through the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) to encourage counties to create deflection programs that offer treatment instead of criminal justice sanctions for users caught with small amounts of narcotics.

 

Marion County’s decade-old LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) Program has been widely regarded as a national best practice diversion model. Under HB 4002, most other communities scrambled to create LEAD-like programs, and Marion County spearheaded training for communities and programs around the state. Additionally, Marion County saw an opportunity to do more.  “When the state passed HB 4002, we were already doing deflection right - with accountability and compassion that was truly making a difference.  We wanted to take these concepts further and help even more people that were not otherwise eligible for basic deflection under LEAD. HB 3069 gave us the funding to do that,” said DA Clarkson, “and RESTORE was created.”

 

RESTORE Court partnered the DA with Marion County Judges, the Marion County Health Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to help offenders who owed restitution to victims of property crimes such as Criminal Mischief, Forgery or Theft and therefore could not benefit from LEAD. RESTORE Court participants instead entered a court-ordered diversionary probation with appropriate treatment and other wrap-around services while simultaneously working off their restitution via community service. The dollars earned through their community service were used to pay restitution to the victims of their crime. If they successfully completed treatment and their restitution obligation, the DA agreed to dismiss the charges and expunge the individual’s record – a benefit not otherwise available. “This program was a win-win-win. The offender receives the help they need through treatment and the ability to move forward without the burden of a criminal conviction. The victim is made financially whole.  And the community received a benefit from real, meaningful service, usually in the form of a work crew,” said DA Clarkson. “But we need proper funding to offer this type of criminal justice programming. CJC provided the money to do that in the first allocation. Now CJC changed their formula.”

 

The funding formula adopted by the CJC as a result of HB 3069 reduced the allocation Marion County will receive for both its deflection programs, despite LEAD’s proven, data-driven benefits. Instead, more dollars were directed to counties who merely say that they will have the ability to serve larger numbers of participants in the future. The result is a disproportionate allocation that rewards counties for aspirational projections, while reducing support for established programs.    

 

“It’s hard to quantify the impact of a program like LEAD and our fledgling RESTORE Court by simply counting the number of participants,” said DA Clarkson. “You can’t put a dollar figure on a parent who becomes stable and breaks the cycle of dependency and homelessness, or on the benefit of successfully righting a wrong. Helping even one person in these ways can make meaningful, lasting change that has a ripple effect throughout our community – not to mention the value it brings directly to victims.  But to fund imaginary programs that don’t yet even exist at the expense of an operational, ground-breaking, collaborative system is a missed opportunity.” 

 

With RESTORE Court unable to move forward, existing funding will be used to ensure the continuation of the existing LEAD program putting Marion County right back where it was before all the dollars spent on HB 4002.