Umatilla sheriff’s future in jeopardy as Oregon state panel recommends revoking law enforcement powers

An Oregon state panel that oversees police is recommending Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan lose his police certification for at least three years, endangering his law enforcement future.

The sheriff, elected in 2013, was found to have been dishonest and engaging in misconduct after he was pulled over for drunk driving and reckless driving on Interstate 84 last spring. Rowan was behind the wheel of a sheriff’s office vehicle, flashed his own emergency lights while being pulled over and lied about having nothing to drink that day.

Rowan later pleaded no contest to both driving under the influence and reckless driving. He did not respond to requests for comment.

The meeting Thursday, held by the Police Policy Committee of Oregon’s Board on Public Safety Standards and Training, was almost a full-circle moment for the sheriff. He had sat on the board prior to his arrest and had once been in the very same position of making recommendations over whether officers throughout Oregon failed the state’s moral fitness standards for police.

Related: Umatilla County sheriff arrested for drunk driving last year broke state policing standards, report says

He wore a light-colored suit as he sat at the conference table in Salem and said he had been racked with regret for the past year. He spoke of getting treatment even after completing a six-week inpatient program in Texas.

“After completing that program, I continued with counseling, weekly meetings and recovery support to understand the issues and unhealthy patterns that led me to that night,” Rowan told the panel.

On May 26, 2025, multiple 911 callers reported a white truck swerving on the interstate. A deputy with the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office clocked Rowan’s truck traveling 91 miles per hour and making precarious lane changes. At one point, records said, he “nearly collided” with a guardrail.

When a deputy pulled him over, the sheriff activated his truck’s own blue-and-red emergency lights.

Rowan said he had nothing to drink when asked multiple times by the deputy, but said he had taken a muscle relaxer earlier in the day after he hurt his back during a round of golf. Rowan had been returning to Umatilla County from a law enforcement conference in Deschutes County.

After he failed a field sobriety test, deputies tried to use a breathalyzer to determine how much he had drank. Twice he tried to put a Zyn nicotine pouch into his mouth, but deputies caught him both times, according to records. Both instances were caught on body-worn cameras and in-car cameras.

Related: Umatilla County Sheriff apologizes for DUII arrest, blew twice the legal limit

In his statement, Rowan addressed the allegations but denied any ill intent. He acknowledged he was “inaccurate” about his sobriety, but said it was not a “calculated intentional effort to mislead the officers or avoid accountability.”

Rowan denied popping the nicotine pouches to beat the breathalyzer as well, noting he gave a breath sample eventually.

He said activating his truck’s lights was “consistent with my customary practice of alerting officers for safety during a roadside interaction” and not an effort to intimidate the deputy or curry favor.

“I recognize that the action could have been misunderstood, but it is not intended as an invocation of my authority or a request for different treatment,” Rowan said.

In their meeting, committee members deliberated about the extent to which Rowan’s recovery should affect their decision. They also weighed his intent, or lack thereof, during the traffic stop.

Ultimately, they disagreed that Rowan had misused his authority — as a state investigator suggested in her initial report — but concluded the sheriff was dishonest and engaged in misconduct.

The panel’s recommendation jeopardizes Rowan’s future as the top law enforcement official in the eastern Oregon county. A three-year hiatus would, under Oregon law, require him to vacate the seat after a year.

But the recommendation must first be upheld by the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training. That board will decide in October. It rarely deviates from the committee recommendations, however, state officials told OPB.

Rowan may also appeal, which could delay the board’s decision as it goes through administrative law courts.