A Message from Tre' Kennedy, the Lebanon Prosecutor

I have been the Lebanon City Prosecutor for over 10 years. If an individual, group or candidate tries to tell you that Lebanon doesn’t need a jail because it can just use the Linn County Jail, they are either willfully ignorant or lying to you. Just ask if they have talked to the prosecutor, the judge or any Lebanon police officer if the Linn County Jail even remotely satisfies our community needs. I guarantee they haven’t because it does not!

For 3 years we have attempted to send criminals to Linn County to serve their time and it simply doesn't work. In most cases they are booked and released without serving any time. Yet, because they are booked, they get credit for the time. Or, if they are booked, they may serve a small fraction of their sentence. Even in cases like DUIIs where there is a statutory MANDATORY JAIL SENTENCE, the offenders are almost always booked and released. This is the reality. I ultimately stopped seeking jail sentences, and the Judge stopped handing down sentences, because it was just a waste of time for our officers and staff.

And this is not in any way a criticism of the Linn County Sheriff or the County Jail. I have nothing but respect for Sheriff Duncan and the job she is doing. The fact is that the County Jail is full of felons, both those serving sentences or awaiting trial. In addition, Linn County has contracts to reserve space for other public entities. Who would expect the jail to release a serious felon to hold a misdemeanor case from Lebanon?

Here are some facts:

Yes, the Linn County Jail has 231 beds. The jail has never and will never house 231 inmates. In 2022 Sheriff Duncan recognized that the highest average number of inmates was 197 in 2019. In 2023 the average number of inmates was 168.

She explained:

“The Linn County Jail has a maximum of 231 beds to house adults in custody, and I often get asked why we don’t have 231 people in custody at all times. This number is a maximum which is nearly impossible to ever meet because of the required separation of populations. For example, if I have a block that has 20 beds when double-bunked (2 persons to a cell), and I have 8 high-risk offenders in that block that have to be single bunked (1 person to a cell), I have 12 beds that are left unused because by jail standards, I cannot place a lower risk inmate in the same block or cell with the high-risk, more dangerous, population.”

Additionally, there are limitations by gender and leased beds with other law enforcement agencies. For example, Linn County has IGAs with the Department of Corrections and the City of Corvallis that reserves a total of 31 beds. These beds are paid for and offset some of the cost of operating the jail.

Take for example the Linn County Jail Roster for September 29, 2026. There is a total of 164 inmates. Of those 12 are being held on murder or attempted murder charges, 25 for sex crimes, and 76 for other various felonies. There are 21 inmates being held for parole/probation violations (for violating terms of probation on a felony or Linn County Misdemeanor), 6 for contempt (most for violation of a restraining order), 14 recently booked waiting to be arraigned on County charges, 8 serving time on misdemeanors sentenced by Linn County Judges (none being held only on City sentences) and 5 waiting for an mental investigations to determine if they are fit to proceed. (Note: in looking up each of the inmates I reviewed all their current criminal charges but it is not always easy to tell exactly what is holding them. I am confident I am substantially accurate).

It is unclear how many of the serious felons are deemed highly dangerous and have to be isolated. Just assume there are 20, which results in 20 less beds.

SO UNEQUIVOCALLY NO! There are not enough jail beds to hold Lebanon’s criminals, or Sweet Home’s, or Albany’s, or Brownsville’s, or the Justice Court’s.

For me to do my job as city prosecutor and to hold criminals accountable and deter crime, I need to be able to seek jail sentences and for those sentences to be carried out. To do that, we need to Reopen the Lebanon Jail.