Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Multnomah County  Board of Commissioners, and county law enforcement officials debated at length Tuesday what to do with a recent uptick in empty jail beds.   Andrew Theen reports.

Empty jail beds aren't a bad thing per se.  The Sheriff's Department wants to have a certain number for flexibility.  But in recent months the vacancies at the county jail have increased. 

No decisions were made on what to do about the openings, but Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Shrunk said lower crime statistics, while encouraging, don't mean those jail beds won't ultimately be  necessary.

County Chair Ted Wheeler said more information is needed, but he says the county must be smarter about  how it spends money.

Ted Wheeler: "If we keep trying to harbor all of our resources just for jail beds, we're never going to have resources for anything else, not the secure work release, not the mental health component."

Community justice officials say two anti-crime ballot measures to be voted on this fall will cause a massive increase in the number of female inmates if passed. 

They say that's because more women are under supervision for identity theft crimes than men.