Firearms Survey Oregon

Juvenile Probation and Parole

Oregon’s system of probation and parole services is bifurcated between local county government and state government. Local counties provide probation supervision and services as referenced below. Youth in need of more intensive or out of home services are committed to the state (Oregon Youth Authority) at one of two levels of state custody. The first is state custody probation, the second a commitment to a state youth correctional facility which includes a period of parole supervision following incarceration.

County government funds probation departments that provide juvenile probation services for local juvenile courts. County juvenile department staff or Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) staff provide juvenile probation and juvenile parole supervision. OYA, which is in the Executive Branch of state government, is the sole agency responsible for parole supervision of juveniles.

Juvenile probation/parole officers at both the county and state levels do not carry a firearm. They are not classified as peace officers. They may detain for violations.

OYA policy governs the staff and each county has a policy that prohibits these officers from carrying a firearm.

At the time of the survey, it was not under consideration to allow the officers to carry a firearm.

There are no private companies providing juvenile probation or juvenile parole supervision services.

Adult Probation and Parole

Adult probation (felony and misdemeanor) and parole supervision are functions of executive branch agencies in 34 county governments. County commissioners designate or established the county agencies to provide supervision services and sheriffs’ departments have been assigned probation responsibilities in several counties. There is no state oversight in these counties. Two counties, Douglas and Linn, are under state jurisdiction within the Department of Corrections as of late 2004.

Statutorily officers can be armed, but the decision to arm is left up to each county. They are peace officers with regard to the people they supervise and have the power to arrest.

Department of Public Safety Standards of Training does the core training and in turn certifies county trainers. Officers who are armed go through a certification process. They must periodically re-qualify to remain certified to carry. Psychological testing varies from county to county.

The type of firearm varies by county. The employer or the officer at the employer’s discretion provides firearms.

There are no private companies providing adult probation or parole supervision.

For updates or corrections to the information on this page, please contact: Diane Kincaid