By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
September 28, 2007

Wasco County Sheriff Rick Eiesland is launching an investigation into allegations of misconduct at a jail shared by four Mid-Columbia counties.

“I’m going to contact the other sheriffs and we will make a decision about how we are going to proceed,” he told the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities board of directors on Wednesday.

The body of officials from Hood River, Wasco, Gilliam and Sherman counties convened in The Dalles to address personnel issues. They directed Eiesland to take action after being presented with a folder of employee complaints by Hood River County Commission Chair Ron Rivers, who serves on the NORCOR board.

He agreed to turn over a list of names to match those documents after an independent investigator — such as the Oregon State Police — had been brought on board. Until that person had been selected by the sheriffs’ board, Rivers said the identities of the staffers who had approached him would be kept confidential.

“If this process will begin to allow healing then let’s move on it,” he said.

On a separate but related track, NORCOR officials are restarting the process to select a new administrator. Accusations against management practices re-surfaced after Capt. Larry Lindhorst was preliminarily chosen for the top job in August.

Before his contract was signed, the board learned that he had been hired in an illegal meeting. Not only had the interview session not been advertised to the public, but the final vote for Lindhorst had taken place inside a closed executive session.

For almost two years, Lindhorst has served as both captain and interim administrator of the jail. In late January, Rivers was handed a letter outlining numerous violations that had allegedly occurred under his watch.

Many of the complaints centered on discriminatory practices and the sexual harassment of both female workers and inmates.

Wasco County Human Resource Director Tyler Stone was asked to look into these charges of misconduct. He compiled a report this spring that made recommendations for changing the jail “culture.”

However, Eiesland believed that allegations of criminal activity, such as staff money mismanagement, necessitated a law enforcement investigation. On Wednesday, the board granted the sheriff that request.

One of Stone’s recommendations was that NORCOR hire an interim administrator while seeking a permanent replacement for Paul Barnett.

NORCOR officials had encountered difficulties attracting qualified applicants for a position of responsibility that paid $70,000-$85,000. The jail operates with a $7.9 million budget and 68 workers who oversee 212 adult inmates and 32 juveniles.

Former Wasco County Sheriff Darrell Hill was selected to temporarily serve as administrator in April. He agreed to one extension of his 90-day contract but will return to retirement on Monday.

The NORCOR board wants a new administrator at the helm as soon as possible. Current plans are either to re-interview recent applicants or re-advertise the position in hopes of drawing more contenders.

As of press time on Friday, Lindhorst was still listed as a candidate. He will soon also be the subject of an investigation.

Wasco County Judge Dan Ericksen, who chairs the board, thanked Hill on Sept. 23 for updating personnel policies to address new employee concerns.

He said Hill had set up a “chain of command” that staffers could follow to register complaints of wrongdoing.