Christy Kenny, juvenile department director, briefed the Board of Commissioners on recent regional activity, detention costs and pending state law changes that affect juvenile records.

Kenny said the Central Eastern Oregon juvenile directors will host the 2026 regional conference and that Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) will provide an updated facility tour and security briefing for directors. She told the board that Norcor, the regional detention provider the county uses, increased its daily bed rate to $210 (from $198), reflecting higher operating costs.

The nut graf: Kenny summarized changes to state juvenile-record expungement law and implementation timing that will affect county juvenile files and department workload.

Kenny said a state bill (referenced in the meeting as a House bill number by staff) expands the categories eligible for automatic expungement. “The new bill of this 1 is now including, cases that can be adjudicated,” she said, explaining that the automatic-expungement process will now cover some adjudicated cases and lower-level felonies if youth meet the qualifying conditions and are no longer under supervision. Kenny also said that for non-automatic expungement requests there is an adjustment to required waiting periods (from five years to four in some cases).

Kenny discussed capacity: the department typically relies on Norcor on a first-come, first-served basis and does not reserve beds; she noted recent near-capacity usage and open staff positions at Norcor. Commissioners asked about possible regional contracting or “holding” bed contracts with Norcor; Kenny said discussions are ongoing and that a contract model (an annual flat payment to hold beds) had been proposed in regional conversations but no funding model was finalized.

Ending: Kenny said she has joined the legislative committee to track potential state support for detention capacity and will report back to the board on legislative developments and any recommended local changes.

(Authority: changes described were raised by department staff; the meeting did not include final county policy changes. Commissioners asked questions but did not take immediate formal action.)