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Oregon · County seat: Roseburg · Checked 2026-08-23

Douglas County

The jail, the sheriff who runs it, and the judges who decide who sits inside. Every fact below comes from a named public record. Anything not yet sourced is marked still needed rather than guessed.

The Detention Center

Douglas County Jail

Source: Douglas County Sheriff's Office — Corrections · checked 2026-08-23

Transparency rating

4/10Partial

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Douglas County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-23. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

Since then

  • Not found — the Corrections page refers to a 'new Juvenile Detention Facility' beside the Justice Building but gives no date or cost, and the county website that would carry capital project records was unreachable

The Sheriff

Sheriff John Hanlin

Still needed
  • Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
  • Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
  • Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Douglas County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-08-23

The Judges

Oregon Circuit Court judges are elected in nonpartisan races and are state judicial officers, not county officials. The 16th Judicial District is Douglas County alone and has six elected judges plus a pro tem. There is a discrepancy worth recording: the Douglas County Circuit Court's own page names Kathleen Johnson as presiding judge, while the Oregon Judicial Department's central judges directory lists Steve H. Hoddle as acting presiding judge — both are the state court system's own publications and both are recorded here rather than choosing between them. Douglas County is also one of the few Oregon counties with county justice courts, two of them, each headed by a Justice of the Peace elected to a six-year term. A judge, not the sheriff, sets security amounts and release conditions.

Douglas County Circuit Court — 16th Judicial District, Justice Building, 1036 SE Douglas Ave, Roseburg

  • Kathleen E. Johnson — listed as Presiding Judge on the court's own page
  • Steve H. Hoddle — listed as Circuit Court Acting Presiding Judge in the Oregon Judicial Department's judges directory
  • George W. Ambrosini, Circuit Court Judge
  • Robert B. Johnson, Circuit Court Judge
  • Ann Marie Simmons, Circuit Court Judge
  • Cadence L. Whiteley, Circuit Court Judge
  • Jason R. Thomas, Pro Tem Judge

South Douglas Justice Court — 249 N Main St, Canyonville

  • Machelle Briggs-Mayfield, Justice of the Peace — elected, term January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2031

Reedsport Justice Court — 680 Fir Ave, Reedsport

  • Kathleen K. Miller, Justice of the Peace — term January 7, 2025 to January 7, 2031
  • Scott Culpepper, Justice of the Peace — appointed and presiding, from July 10, 2023
Still needed
  • The county's bond schedule
  • Share of the jail population held pretrial
  • Median time from booking to first appearance

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-23

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

Notes on the record

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Douglas County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).

How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?

Your VOTE is POWERFUL.

The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.

The sheriff is on your ballot

The county clerk runs the election in Douglas County and prints the ballot the sheriff’s name is on. Links from USA.gov and vote.gov.

Names verified 2026-08-23 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered