Eugene police first spotted Shawn Connelly at 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 1, parked with an associate in a disabled parking spot. Upon approach, he and his associate fled the police, only to be caught and charged with drug-related charges.
At 3:30 p.m., Connelly was taken to the Lane County Jail to be held, but due to budget cuts, the jail did not have space for him. So, by 10:48 p.m., he was back out on the streets.
The next day, he and another man broke into a house near the Laurelwood Golf Course,@@http://golflaurelwood.com/@@ and the man living there shot Connelly during the attempt. Around 3 p.m. on Feb. 2, Connelly was dead.
“That’s a prime example of what has been happening in our jail,” said Byron Trapp, a captain@@http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27640548-46/greco-police-assault-deputies-arrest.html.csp@@ in the police division of the Land County Sheriff’s Office. “Today we’re not holding people sufficiently, and we have no way to alter that.”
Federal budget cuts hitting the district attorney’s office, the Lane County Jail and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office@@http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/Sheriff/Pages/default.aspx@@ are causing this kind of situation. The jail has 351 beds in use right now and is expected to lose 131 beds. This is on top of 84 beds that they already lost from cuts last November.
Because of this, police will no longer be able to arrest perpetrators and keep them in jail for very long.

“There will be no pulling (criminals) off the street@@what does this mean?@@ for any significant length of time,” Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich@@http://special.registerguard.com/web/updates/27075108-55/district-eugene-scenario-districts-handy.html.csp@@ said. “We took a 10 percent (funding) hit last year, and 25 percent this year. That’s a third of our general fund.”
He also said that 65 percent of that third were public safety funds. Aside from losing jail beds, the district attorney’s office is losing at least 18 positions, including eight deputy DAs. The sheriff’s office is going to be down to four deputies total, when the minimum for a shift is usually seven. The office also used to put 12-15 deputies at Autzen Stadium during game days, but now they’re barely able to send any.@@i bet they love the city making it easier to drink at autzen@@
Because of these deficits, many of the offenders, like Connelly, who frequent University-area neighborhoods and victimize students, will not be able to be held or charged for their crimes.
“There is a tremendous amount of crime not held in custody,” Lane County District Attorney Alex Gardner said. “It’s an incredibly challenging time for us.”
According to the Lane County Parole and Probation Services,@@http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/Sheriff/corrections/PP/Pages/default.aspx@@ there are more than 200 parolees and probationers in the campus area. Even without those who are not on parole or probation, there are still many offenders who are caught and released before they can even be tried.
For the sheriff’s office, the loss of deputies means less extra protection for the already busy areas like West University. During incidents like the 2010 student riot, the sheriff’s office is often called in to help the Eugene Police Department. With the most recent federal budget cuts, that ability will be greatly diminished.
These are the things that are fighting progress in areas like West University.
“We have to prioritize. We are going to do our best to prevent violent crime,” Bozievich said. “We’re going to hold a suspected rapist before a suspected burglar. We’re running out of tricks in our magic box. We just don’t have a stable system anymore.”
Rapists, murders and other violent offenders will be always be held in jail. This means that criminals in cases of burglary, drug use and other misdemeanors will often be kicked out of jail early to make room for them. This can even apply to offenders who would need to serve a minimum sentence according to Measure 11 rules.
“Several years ago, we had too many Measure 11 offenders, offenses like robbery and assault,” Gardner said. “We were letting several of those people go.”
Measure 11 offenders are also required by Oregon law to be held in jail until their trial date, unless released on bail. Now, people who can’t afford bail are being let out early due to lack of space.
“It is against state laws, but the sheriff’s office can’t do anything about it,” Gardner said.