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(Updated at 10:27 a.m. with more information about the Aug. 18 rescue from Sporthaven Beach.)

(Updated at 8:32 p.m. with a statement from Curry County Sheriff John Ward.)

Roughly two weeks after the Curry County sheriff filed a State Bar complaint against him, Ted Fitzgerald formally asked commissioners to decide if he can still represent the county as its attorney.

Fitzgerald submitted a personal conflict of interest disclosure and informed consent letter to the Board of Commissioners on Thursday. He has also hired an ethics counsel to address the sheriff’s bar complaint.

Fitzgerald told commissioners that they can keep him on as county counsel, which includes representing the sheriff’s office in legal matters, or they can hire outside counsel to represent the sheriff’s office.

Commissioners promised to respond by the end of the day Monday.

“I have no reason to say that I couldn’t represent the sheriff’s office,” Fitzgerald told commissioners after he read his letter into the record. “If someone wants to allege that there is a conflict, I would need to know what it is.”

In his letter, Fitzgerald cited the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct. Those rules prohibit an attorney from representing a client if his or her personal interest conflicts with theirs. A client can consent to have the attorney continue to represent them if they’re informed of the nature of the conflict, the risks involved and potential alternatives to providing consent, according to Fitzgerald’s letter.

“When I informed you of this, it was made clear the Board wants me to continue as the attorney acting on their behalf,” Fitzgerald said, reading from his letter. “Nevertheless, the Rules of Professional Conduct require me to recommend the Board consult independent counsel to determine whether consent should be given, and I encourage that.”

On Thursday, Fitzgerald gave a copy of his letter to each commissioner and asked them to sign and return it to him. He said if they had questions they could talk to him outside the meeting.
Communication between the Board of Commissioners and Sheriff John Ward have been at a standstill since the beginning of August.

In a statement to the community on Thursday, Trost said the conflict stems from the failure of a proposed tax levy that would have paid for 24/7 deputy patrol and a subsequent decision he and his colleagues had to make on how much Road Department Reserve dollars to allocate toward the sheriff’s office.

According to Trost, the answers Ward provided to the budget committee following the defeat of the tax measure were incomplete. As a result, instead of allocating $3.12 million in Road Department reserves — the same amount as the previous year — the committee dedicated $1.2 million to for sheriff’s patrol.

During the budget committee discussions, Board Chairman Brad Alcorn had proposed reducing the number of supervisors in the sheriff’s office and increasing the number of deputies, according to Trost.

Alcorn had also proposed adding three new positions paid for by restricted funds and consolidating animal control into the sheriff’s office. Those positions included community resource officer, a school resource officer and would have been paid for with opioid settlement money. Incorporating animal control into the sheriff’s office would have allowed for additional staff to serve civil summons in addition to their regular duties, according to Trost.

“This would have taken some of that responsibility off the deputies so they could focus more on public safety matters,” Trost wrote. “The sheriff rejected this plan upon presentation.”

In his statement, Trost questioned the metrics Ward used to establish the patrol deputy’s schedule of 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. He referred to an 87 percent reduction in case referrals to the Curry County District Attorney and questioned whether the cut in the number of deputies on the road were a factor.

Trost also brought up an allegation that the sheriff’s office denied a Search & Rescue response on Aug. 18 for a 15-year-old who was stranded on a cliff near Sporthaven Beach and, in his statement, asked if there was any validity to reports that offers of assistance from other agencies were rejected.

Finally, Trost asked, “is the sheriff’s office intentionally withholding public safety resources when they are available?”
Trost also added that people have publicly stated that the Board of Commissioners is overstepping its role in requesting the above information. Some are even calling for a recall, Trost said.

“As the governing body that is required to represent the people on all matters of County business and is entrusted with the fiduciary duty to oversee the use of tax dollars, I would hope that asking questions as to how that money is being spent and the subsequent services provided would be expected,” he wrote.

On Friday, Trost told the Wild Rivers Outpost that a police officer he had spoken with brought up the incident last week and he had requested the incident report from dispatch on Monday.

On Aug. 18, Brookings Fire & Rescue’s high angle rope rescue team helped the boy get to safety. The agency reported on Facebook that the teen was about 30 feet above the beach on a narrow ledge. Rescuers anchored a rope above him and rappelled down to the beach with the boy attached.

According to a Brookings Police Department Incident Report, sheriff's dispatch was notified for a possible Search & Rescue response. Sheriff's dispatch stated that resources weren't available and the lieutenant asked dispatch to advise him if there was any change in the teen's status.

On Friday, Trost also said an Oregon State Police trooper told him he had reached out to the sheriff to offer assistance and was told he didn’t want assistance.

Alcorn said Trost's statement was "very factual and well said" and urged his colleague to "put it out as some type of statement."

"I would walk across that street right now and sit down with the sheriff and have a conversation with him about all of this stuff right now," Alcorn said. "And he knows that."

In an email to the Wild Rivers Outpost on Friday, Ward refuted statements Trost made regarding the rescue of the 15-year-old at Sporthaven on Aug. 18 as well as a refusal of assistance from OSP.

According to the sheriff, Search & Rescue wasn't requested at the Sporthaven incident regarding the 15-year-old boy. He said his lieutenant informed him that the fire department was on the scene. The boy was brought to safety before SAR could have got there, Ward said.

"There was no denial of resources," he said via email. "As far as OSP, there was no telling them not to respond to our calls. In fact, just the opposite. They are just as short handed as we are and will respond to priority calls just like we do."

According to Ward, however, OSP won't respond to the sheriff's office's "low-level calls."

"We have a great relationship with OSP and the other law enforcement agencies in Curry County and we will assist each other if needed," he said.

On Thursday, Lt. Jeremy Krohn, the jail commander, said that while he couldn’t speak on the sheriff’s behalf, it might be prudent for commissioners to ask Ward about seeking independent counsel for his office.

“I know through having been at the office, that is a topic that has come up,” Krohn told commissioners. “That is a wish of his, but I can’t speak on his behalf. Monday is a good deadline between the three of you to vet the letter that was presented and reach out to him. I think that might be a good idea so we can move forward.”

According to Fitzgerald, he said he is representing the county in “numerous ongoing” litigation, some of which began before he was hired. Most of those involve the sheriff’s office, he said.

On July 9, Ward released a statement to the community, informing them that due to budget cuts, the sheriff’s office had lost two positions in 911/dispatch, two corrections positions and 15 positions in the criminal/civil/patrol division.

Ward said his office would be down to three patrol deputies as of July 15.

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