Josephine County will have only one patrol car next year and will stop making arrests for drugs, burglaries or minor assaults under cuts outlined to make up for the loss of federal funds, officials said.
"Our sheriff called it the wild, wild West," said Josephine County Commissioner Jim Raffenburg.
And those are just some of the consequences.
The number of jail beds will be reduced from 140 to as few as 20. The number of deputy district attorneys will be cut from nine to two.
"It will be complete devastation to the criminal justice system," said Commissioner Dave Toler.
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"There will be no drug arrests, no burglary arrests and no smaller assault arrests," said Toler. Personal property crimes also will not be prosecuted, he said.
Local residents are uneasy about the cuts in law enforcement, said Toler, and he's heard talk that some are planning to arm themselves — or take justice into their own hands.
"I hear more citizens saying that now than what makes me comfortable," Toler said.
"I've heard several people say there's going to be a new use for backhoes," said Raffenburg.
The cuts will cause problems for the city of Grants Pass, which has its own police force but relies on the county's justice system for prosecution and incarceration.
"They'll have a wonderful patrol, but nowhere to put these people," said Toler.
Josephine County will ask voters in May to pay $2.50 cents for every $1,000 in assessed valuation to raise $12.7 million annually to support the criminal justice system.
Raffenburg said he's heard complaints from Grants Pass residents that they don't want to pay for county services when they already pay inside the city.
He said he needs to persuade these residents that they rely heavily on the county's criminal justice system.
The city generates about 80 percent of the use in the juvenile justice system, which will be shut down unless the levy is passed, he said.
Josephine County will lose $12 million of its $20 million general fund budget and $1.7 million of its $7 million roads budget because of the loss of federal dollars.
Toler said the percentage losses are comparable to those faced by Curry County, but Josephine set aside a $5 million reserve and has already made significant reductions in staff.
"The cliff is sharper for some of these other counties because we've already been doing the cuts over the past few years," he said.
Two years ago, the county had 700 employees, but has 350 today and will be down to 200 after it makes more cuts by the end of the fiscal year.
Josephine County, like Jackson County, plans to close its library system. And it likely will close the county fairgrounds.
Public health services will be cut in half, and roads will deteriorate as maintenance is reduced, officials said.
Toler said he has confidence that the residents of Josephine County will pass the levy despite a widespread dislike of taxes.
"We know that this is what we need to do," he said. "Nobody likes to pay taxes."
