The East County Courthouse in Gresham, Oregon, is reducing its hours due to lack of security staffing from budget cuts.
Starting later this month, the Multnomah County courthouse will only be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of the removal of two full-time security screening officers by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, or MCSO.
The sheriff’s office faced budget reductions of just over $1 million. The two security positions totaled roughly $200,000.
Those are two of more than eight positions the sheriff’s office had to cut due to budget constraints, said Chad Gaidos, chief deputy of corrections services with MCSO.
“In the challenging cycle that we’re in, in budget cuts that have happened over the last 10-plus years, the agency is down to a point where it’s challenging for us to find any positions that are extra,” Gaidos said.
“We start to make cuts based on where we see facility usage, what kind of other systems would have to be cut if we didn’t cut those areas," he said. “There is no good place for us to make a cut anymore. Any of the reductions that we took will be felt not only systemically, but potentially in the community as well.”
Without security screenings at its doors, Gaidos said the courthouse will only be able to handle some cases like misdemeanor arraignments and traffic citations.
Other matters will have to be handled at the downtown courthouse.
The cuts come as the county is building a downtown Portland courthouse, at a cost of more than $300 million.