Whimsy and Wonder: Is Lincoln County’s District Attorney’s Office Properly Funded?
Barry Bruster/Toledo Tribune - November 10, 2025
Lincoln County sits in a strange middle ground among Oregon’s 36 counties. It’s not large enough to command big-city budgets, but not small enough to escape big-county problems. With a resident population just under 50,000 — and a transient population that can double that number on busy weekends — the county processes roughly 2,000 criminal cases per year, according to publicly available estimates. That places Lincoln County squarely in Oregon’s mid-tier for caseload, alongside Coos, Columbia, and Polk counties.
But its budget does not match its workload.
For fiscal year 2024–25, the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office operates on approximately $4.5 million, with about $3 million allocated to personnel. On paper, that sounds respectable. In practice, it places Lincoln County near the bottom of Oregon’s coastal counties for prosecution funding — despite having one of the highest tourism-driven crime exposures in the state.
Comparisons tell the clearest story.
Clatsop County, with a smaller resident population, budgets $4.2 million and files more cases tied to tourism and property crime.
Coos County, with a population similar to Lincoln’s, allocates over $5.1 million to its DA office.
Polk County, also in the same population band, budgets $5.4 million and handles about 2,300 cases a year.
Statewide, counties of similar size average $5–6 million in total DA funding. Lincoln County sits $1–1.5 million below that line.
The gap grows sharper when looking at cases per dollar spent. Lincoln County prosecutors handle roughly 440 cases per $1 million, far above the Oregon median of 300–350. Put another way, the Lincoln County DA’s Office is carrying 30–40% more workload per budgeted dollar than its peers.
Staffing reflects the strain. While large counties boast specialized units — narcotics, major fraud, special victims, domestic violence, juvenile — Lincoln County relies on a smaller team whose attorneys often cover multiple categories simultaneously. That is not unusual for rural counties, but Lincoln County is not truly rural in caseload behavior. Tourism, transient populations, addiction-driven property crimes, mental health-related cases, and child exploitation prosecutions all place demands rarely seen in counties of its size.
In counties like Lane, Deschutes, and Marion, filing increases since 2022 prompted budget increases of 8–12%. Lincoln County has not seen proportionate adjustments. The result is a DA’s office that is leaner than almost all comparable counties — and stretched in ways that don’t show up in ordinary budget spreadsheets.
A future review of county priorities will likely have to confront the imbalance directly. If Lincoln County wants prosecution quality comparable to other Oregon counties of its size — and wants to keep pace with a transient population much larger than its permanent one — the numbers indicate a clear conclusion:
The District Attorney’s Office is operating efficiently.
It is not operating with sufficient support.
District Attorneys across Oregon regularly tell state agencies they cannot prosecute cases they do not have attorneys for. Underfunded offices triage. Some low-level crimes go unfiled. Some serious cases move slower. Victims wait longer. Deputies carry heavier loads. Lincoln County is not at crisis levels, but it is closer to the edge than most people realize.
Comparison Table — Oregon County DA Offices (FY2025 & 2024 Case Estimates)
County DA Budget ($M). Cases Filed (2024 est.)
Baker 2.1. 900
Benton 5.8 2,100
Clackamas 36.4 12,500
Clatsop 4.2 1,300
Columbia 3.9 1,400
Coos 5.1. 2,100
Crook. 2.3 800
Curry 2.7 900
Deschutes 18.5 7,200
Douglas 6.8 3,500
Gilliam 0.8 200
Grant 1.2 400
Harney. 1.0 300
Hood River 2.4 700
Jackson 21.2 8,200
Jefferson. 2.1 600
Josephine 7.5 3,000
Klamath 6.2 2,800
Lake 1.1 400
Lane 31.7 10,500
Lincoln 4.5 2,000
Linn 7.8 3,200
Malheur 2.6 1,000
Marion 42.3 15,800
Morrow 1.3 500
Multnomah 78.2 25,500
Polk 5.4 2,300
Sherman 0.7 150
Tillamook 2.9 1,000
Umatilla 4.7 1,900
Union 1.8 700
Wallowa 0.9 250
Wasco 2.2 800
Washington 45.1 18,200
Wheeler. 0.6 100
Yamhill 6.9 2,700
Sources for Oregon County DA Data
Oregon Judicial Department Annual Statistical Reports (ojd.state.or.us) – Primary for case filing volumes.
Oregon Department of Justice and county-specific budget docs (e.g., multco.us for Multnomah, co.lincoln.or.us for Lincoln) – For budget allocations.
Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office summaries (oregonlegislature.gov) – Cross-verified funding trends.
Disclaimer
This data is based on publicly available reports and estimates as of late 2024; actual figures can vary due to mid-year adjustments or reporting lags. For official purposes, consult primary sources or the Oregon Judicial Department directly.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1013392377454389/posts/1409176844542605