Deputies
The primary duty of a Union County Sheriff’s Deputy is to serve and protect the citizens of Union County from those who intend to harm. This includes responding to emergencies, traffic control, patrolling neighborhoods, writing citations, serving warrants and arresting violators. Secondly, deputies are assigned, or may volunteer, to assist the community with non-law enforcement activity such as filling and delivering sandbags during flood situations. If you are interested, you may fill out a ride-along request and ride with a deputy for a period of time to learn what a shift at UCSO looks like. You may also pick up a form at the Sheriff’s Office.
Forest Patrol
The Union County Sheriff’s Office along with the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State Police is charged with assisting visitors in enjoying their chosen activities safely and legally. Deputies regularly patrol the forests in four-wheel-drive vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles, and on foot and snowshoes as necessary.
Animal Enforcement
The Union County Sheriff’s Office has one Animal Enforcement Officer. Some examples of calls AEO respond to are loose dogs, dog bites, animal cruelty, wolf depredation and more. AEO also work closely with our local veterinary clinics and the animal shelter, Blue Mountain Humane Association.
Drone program
Union County Sheriff’s Office received a grant this year to begin their drone program. The program will assist deputies with the apprehension of suspects, and finding lost subjects in the wilderness for Search and Rescue.
School Resource Officer
The Sheriff’s Office has contracts with many of the schools in Union County with specially trained School Resource Deputies assigned. Deputy Hernandez is assigned to the La Grande School District and Deputy Humphries is assigned to Cove, Union, North Powder School Districts and one day a week in the La Grande School District. Their primary duty is to ensure the schools are safe and secure for all the students and faculty. They assist the school administrators with truancy cases, investigate crimes that occur on school property, provide security at extracurricular activities such as sports events and dances, and, most importantly, are there to help the students, even if that means just listening to them when they need someone to talk to.
Marine Patrol
Marine patrol in Union County is a seasonal, part-time position, also available during emergencies. Routine enforcement and educational patrols are conducted between March 1 and October 31. During the fall and winter months, September through May, call 541-963-1017 to leave a message for the Marine Deputy. During summer, May through August he can be contacted by cell phone at 541-963-1054 or you can leave a message at 541-963-1017. You can also contact him by email at tbutcher@union-county.org all year.
K9
Our K-9 unit was recently restarted with the addition of Molly to our patrol staff. Molly is a Dutch Shepherd and joined the department in 2019. She was born in Germany and trained at Adlerhorst Kennels in California. She and her handler, Deputy Dane Jensen, went through 6 weeks of basic obedience training, patrol training and scent tracking. In the future, Molly will be trained in drug detection.
SWAT
The Union County Sheriff’s Office is a contributor to the North East Oregon Regional SWAT team. The team is comprised of law enforcement staff from the Union County Sheriff’s Office, La Grande Police Department, La Grande Fire Department, Baker County Sheriff’s Office and Baker City Police Department. SWAT responds to calls involving hostage situations, barricaded subjects, suicidal subjects, and calls that require a greater resource response than patrols can facilitate on their own.
Detectives
The Union County Sheriff’s Office detective division receives cases regarding sexual assault, child abuse, and drug crimes. The detective division has been specially trained to handle the cases they investigate. If the case requires it, a detective will work with the Mt Emily Safe Center, Shelter From the Storm, Oregon Department of Human Services and other victims’ assistance programs in our area. Union County Sheriff’s Office detectives are also part of the Union County Major Crimes Team which is comprised of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, La Grande Police Department, Oregon State Police, and the Union County District Attorney’s Office.