Hillsboro: County Board Votes Nov. 10 on Jail Expansion Plan That Puts Site Choice in Late 2027
- Washington County commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday, Nov.
- The item is listed as F.1 on the Nov.
- The county's Nov.
Washington County commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday, Nov. 10, on a project plan for expanding the county jail at 215 SW Adams Ave. in Hillsboro and the Community Corrections Center across the street. The plan is a roadmap for the next planning stages, not a construction decision, and the county’s own timeline puts the choice of a site in late 2027.
The item is listed as F.1 on the Nov. 10 agenda, for a 6:30 p.m. hybrid meeting in the Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building Auditorium, 155 N. First Ave. In the staff report, staff ask the board to “approve the Jail and Community Corrections (JACCE) Project Plan.” It notes no prior board action on the plan, which commissioners reviewed at July 14 and Oct. 27 work sessions.
The county’s case for more beds
The county’s Nov. 10 slides say the jail has capacity for 572 adults in custody, which they call “the second smallest capacity per capita in Oregon.” According to the slides, the Sheriff’s Office “has been forced to release adults in custody nearly weekly since 2016” for lack of space. They add that, “assuming no obstacles,” a larger modern facility is still seven years away.
The plan, in the Oct. 27 work-session packet, cites a 2020 state task force report putting the jail at 0.9 beds per 1,000 residents. It also cites a Portland State University projection of 694,830 county residents by 2030. If the jail stays at 572 beds, that works out to about 0.82 beds per 1,000 people (our calculation: 572 ÷ 694,830 × 1,000).
Under booking rules, the plan says, some misdemeanors bring a citation instead of a jail booking, including theft under $1,000, criminal mischief up to $500 and disorderly conduct. It says people released early for lack of space recently included some charged with child abuse, domestic violence, vehicle theft, drunk driving and weapons crimes.
The Community Corrections Center, a lower-security site for people finishing sentences, is also in the plan. The county says it has 215 beds but is funded for 167, leaving 48 beds unfunded (our calculation).
What a yes vote would set in motion
Approval would adopt the October 2026 plan for Planning Phases 2 and 3, which the county calls concept development and defining scope. The plan covers about 18 months of work, led largely by the consulting firm DLR Group, and stops before design begins. The county’s slides list the board’s later decisions.
| Step | What the plan says | Timing or money stated |
|---|---|---|
| Planning work | DLR Group planning paid with Strategic Investment Program funds | $200,000 in FY 2024-25 and $6 million in FY 2025-26 for planning and design, county report says |
| Plan approval | Board approves the roadmap | Nov. 10 vote |
| Feasibility study and finances | Size, housing units, services, building and operating cost estimates | Board review mid-2027 |
| Site | Review options, then choose | Mid-2027, then late 2027 |
| Funding method | Decide, then secure | Early 2028, then mid-2028 |
| Design contractor | Board approval | Early 2028 |
| Construction contractor and price cap | Board approval | Mid-2029; construction expected to take three years |
The dates are as of July 9, 2026. The plan calls them best-case estimates and says any delay in an early step pushes every later date back. The planning-money figures come from the county’s quarterly management report in the Oct. 27 packet.
Building money still has to be found
The slides say the timeline assumes funding is secured as shown. Another slide says funding for “capital construction and operations would need to be secured” before the project moves past planning. The plan says current funds cover early space planning and the work to set size, location and features, but design and engineering costs “may be significant” and exceed what is set aside now.
The plan names a bond measure as one way to raise building money. Its finance tasks include weighing bond timing, amount and polling. It also marks two “pause points” where work could stop until money is found: after the feasibility study, and after design.
Cost estimates are to cover a new building, expanding the existing facilities or sharing a site with a replacement county courthouse. The plan says available land near the existing jail is limited. The Nov. 10 staff report and slides do not give a construction cost, a target number of beds or a chosen site. The plan cites a 2025 needs study that estimated extra beds, but it does not state that number.
How to weigh in before Tuesday
Written comments go to the Clerk of the Board by 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, under the county’s written testimony rules. Later comments are shared with the board but not considered in its decision, the rules say.
People can also speak in person or on Zoom. The county’s testimony procedures say in-person speakers fill out a sign-up sheet by the auditorium entrance. Zoom speakers must complete the county’s testimony sign-up form two hours before the meeting. The agenda lists a phone line, +1 669 444 9171, with webinar ID 899 0321 9934; callers press *6 to unmute.
The first comment period, two minutes each and 10 minutes in total, comes before the consent agenda and ahead of the jail item. A second period, five minutes each and 30 minutes at most, comes after the action items. The county streams board meetings on its YouTube channel.
Under “Community Feedback,” the staff report lists “None known at this time.” The plan promises at least two public events during Phase 2.
Top image: File photo, 2009: the Washington County Jail in downtown Hillsboro. Photo: M.O. Stevens, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
