HOOD RIVER — Though Hood River is a relatively small county in Oregon — as of 2022, the population was 23,888 people — crime and caseloads have increased each year for the district attorney’s office. In her quarterly report to Hood River County Commissioners, District Attorney Carrie Rasmussen detailed the increase in case numbers, as well as capacity issues.
Carrie Rasmussen
In September, she reported her office is understaffed compared those of to similar sized counties in Oregon. Hood River has seven full-time employees in the DA office when fully staffed; Wasco, a county with a historically comparable caseload, has 11. Wasco, Crook, Jefferson, Malheur, Baker and Tillamook Counties all have populations similar to Hood River’s, yet each has two to eight more DA staff members.
Lack of a discovery clerk and the current caseload increase, particularly in DUIIs, “would justify hiring an additional misdemeanor deputy district attorney,” Rasmussen wrote. “As I explained above, and in the July 2022 Quarterly Report, we most urgently need help with managing discovery.”
The DA’s office has also lost a legal secretary in the last quarter, reopening the position twice to find qualified applicants. Her report acknowledged cost of living and housing availability in Hood River as problems compounding the issue. “Judge Ostrye… lectures me in my office about how we are not keeping up with discovery,” said Rasmussen, explaining that this has happened on an almost weekly basis.
Most notable in the report was the rise in both number and severity of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) cases. Referring to it as the DUII crisis, Rasmussen said, “It is unusual. I am very concerned about it.” She reported that the county continues to prosecute fewer drug cases due to changes in state law, “but crimes involving driving under the influence and other vehicle offenses continue to increase.
“Our community is [being seen] as a playground. It’s a tourists’ playground,” the DA said, explaining that most of the contributors to this crisis come from Washington. This year, 169 out of 455 cases already filed are DUII cases — 37.14% of the total cases filed. In 2022, 137 DUII cases were filed for the same period.
In 2021, 243 DUII cases were filed in total, and Rasmussen expects to surpass that this year. She said that the issue is getting dramatically worse, as is the severity of the intoxication levels. “My attorneys are overwhelmed,” she said, estimating that nearly 30-40% of DUIIs are drug related while the remaining 60-70% are alcohol related.
“The character of the DUIIs are scarier… We’re really just seeing hard drugs and alcohol,” Rasmussen reported. The Hood River Police Department (HRPD) is reporting very high BAC levels, with .35% and .41% being the highest numbers the DA can recall seeing this year (the legal limit is .08%). Drivers are mostly intoxicated on fentanyl, opioids and alcohol, while the number of marijuana DUIIs is low.
“These numbers justify the addition of another prosecutor alone,” she said, adding the two current prosecutors handle more than just DUII cases. Rasmussen also called attention to the resources DUII trials take — they are expensive to prosecute, requiring multiple experts, extensive lab testing that can take months for results, and reviewing bodycam footage from all involved officers.
At one time the county had a separate municipal court to process cases such as DUIIs. “The costs are getting pretty alarming,” Rasmussen said, as is the mental time for her deputies. She is requesting additional funding for another prosecutor to help with the workload and plans to revisit the commissioners closer to the next budgeting cycle.
The board was open to finding more funding for the DA, particularly Commissioner Arthur Babitz, though they also agreed the entire DUII issue needs to be analyzed. Babitz requested more statistics from this year to compare to past years, as well as reports of specific BAC levels in order to help Rasmussen find the needed funding The board also questioned the rate at which HRPD pulls drivers over, mentioning that many locals and Gorge residents refer to Hood River as a place where police overcharge for DUIIs.
Rasmussen rejected the notion, claiming that the “overzealous police” claim is a myth. Her philosophy when it comes to DUIIs is that intoxicated drivers are among the deadliest in society. “Not too many DUIIs get dismissed in my shop,” she said.
Ultimately, the DA requested more support in the form of funding, resources, and staff. She cited rising crime rates in neighboring counties, particularly Multnomah, and the spike in big-city crimes around Hood River such as retail theft. The report stated that arrests and calls for police service have grown exponentially in the last 15 years. Per Chief Neal Holste, all 15 sworn Police Department positions are now filled; 2008 was the last time all positions were filled.
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