Wasco County

The Detention Center

Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR) - adult jail

• Operated byNorthern Oregon Regional Corrections, an ORS 190 intergovernmental entity owned jointly by Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties
• Who runs itJoyce Orendorff — Jail Commander, Northern Oregon Regional Corrections - recorded as the facility's Warden/Jail Administrator in NORCOR's 2025 PREA audit report. The agency's senior staff officer is Business Manager Nichole Biechler; Todd Giesen is Juvenile Detention Manager and Monica Morris is Interim Finance Manager, appointed by the The NORCOR Board of Directors, an intergovernmental board formed under ORS 190 to which each of the four member counties appoints a delegate. Chair: Hood River County Commissioner Ed Weathers; Vice-Chair: Sherman County Judge Joe Dabulskis; members Gilliam County Commissioner Grant Wilkins and Wasco County Commissioner Jeff Justesen. No sheriff runs this jail
• Jail addressNORCOR Adult Facility, 201 Webber Street, The Dalles, OR 97058 - 541-298-1576, fax 541-298-1082, inquiries@norcor.co.wasco.or.us
• Juvenile facilityNORCOR Juvenile Facility, 211 Webber Street, The Dalles, OR 97058 - 541-298-1447
• What it is'Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities (NORCOR) is a Regional Adult Corrections and Juvenile Detention complex that serves four counties. Setting a national precedent, the counties of Wasco, Hood River, Sherman and Gilliam merged to develop this facility'
• When it was formed'Since its formation in 1996 under Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 190, Northern Oregon Regional Corrections (NORCOR) has served as a vital multi-county partnership. Each member county appoints delegates to serve on the NORCOR Board of Directors' - NORCOR's own FY2026-27 budget message. Hood River County dates the partnership to 1999: 'In 1999, Hood River County partnered with Wasco, Gilliam and Sherman Counties to form a regional jail'
• Designed capacity250, with 15 inmate housing units - the figures NORCOR gave its PREA auditor in October 2025
• Average daily population121 for the 12 months to October 2025; 102 adults in custody on the first day of the on-site audit; the facility had not been over capacity at any point in the previous 12 months
• Who it holdsMen and women, ages 18 to 70, minimum, medium and close custody. No youthful inmates
• Staffing49 staff who may have contact with inmates, 3 individual contractors and 66 volunteers authorised to enter, as of the October 2025 PREA audit. The FY2026-27 budget funds 30 FTE in the Adult Division, 14 in Juvenile and 14 in Shared Services, with five needed positions unfilled and unfunded
• Who else it holdsUS Marshals prisoners are a standing part of the population - 49 average daily and 43 on 16 July 2026, with an average length of stay of 272 days. The June 2026 jail statistics record Wasco 44 average daily population, Hood River 20, Sherman 2, Gilliam 1
• MoneyNORCOR's FY2025-26 adopted budget totals $14,594,592. The FY2026-27 proposed budget totals $11,134,919 in resources against $11,067,676 in expenditures. Top resources: county subsidies for adults $4,484,478, county subsidies for juvenile $1,382,096, US Marshals federal housing $2,117,000, OYA contract beds $470,000, juvenile contract revenue $790,514, property rental income $779,664
• Pressure'NORCOR continues to face a gap between rising costs - custody care, personnel, and facility maintenance - and available revenue... continued underfunding will eventually require more difficult conversations regarding service levels and facility capacity' - FY2026-27 budget message
• An aging buildingThe Sheriff's Oversight Committee 'discussed adult facility issues, contracts, policy, and maintenance issues related to an aging facility' - NORCOR board minutes of 16 July 2026
• Independent assessmentThe July 2026 board minutes record a CIS jail assessment: 'CIS praised the NORCOR Leadership Team by implementing recommendations and mitigating risks over the past five years... the Sheriffs and communities they serve should be proud of the high level of professionalism and dedication demonstrated by the NORCOR Leadership Team and staff'
• PREA auditFinal report 6 November 2025 by auditor Amanda van Arcken of NW Audits, on-site 27-28 October 2025. One standard exceeded (115.31, employee training), 44 met, none not met
• What was triedNORCOR's own pages for adult corrections, bail, phone use, PREA, visiting, money and property, public information and the board, the 2025 PREA audit report, the FY2025-26 adopted budget and FY2026-27 budget packet, and the August 2026 board packet were all read. Nothing published names a death in custody, gives a per-day contract rate, or gives per-minute phone, video visit or commissary rates

Source: NORCOR - Northern Oregon Regional Corrections · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✓PREA audits
• ✓Independent inspection
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Wasco 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.

• Year builtNORCOR was formed in 1996 under ORS 190; Hood River County dates the four-county regional jail partnership to 1999. The exact construction date of the Webber Street facility is not published
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byMember county subsidies are the largest resource - $4,484,478 for adults and $1,382,096 for juvenile in the FY2026-27 proposed budget - supplemented by US Marshals federal housing payments of $2,117,000, OYA contract beds of $470,000, juvenile contract revenue of $790,514 and property rental income of $779,664
• Beds250 designed capacity, 15 housing units (2025 PREA audit)

The Sheriff

Sheriff Lane Magill

• Runs the jailNo - NORCOR does. Wasco County is one of NORCOR's four owner counties; the Sheriff sits on NORCOR's Sheriff Oversight Committee, not in its chain of command
• How the office is filledElected. ORS 204.005 requires Oregon sheriffs to be elected to four-year terms
• What the office covers'The Sheriff's Office oversees Patrol Activities, Criminal Investigations, Civil Process, Records, 911 Communications, Community Corrections and Emergency Management' - the county's own words. Custody is not on the list
• Office511 Washington St., Ste. 101, The Dalles, OR 97058 - 541-506-2580, sheriff@wascocountyor.gov
• Oversight roleNamed on NORCOR's Adult Corrections page as the Wasco County member of the Sheriff Oversight Committee, alongside Sheriff James Burgett (Sherman), Sheriff Gary Bettencourt (Gilliam) and Sheriff Matt English (Hood River)
• How this was verifiedNamed on the county's own Sheriff's Office page and on NORCOR's Adult Corrections page

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

The Judges

Oregon Circuit Court judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. They are elected in nonpartisan races to six-year terms under Article VII of the Oregon Constitution and ORS chapter 3; mid-term vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment and the appointee then stands for election. A judge, not the sheriff, sets security (bail) amounts and release conditions; the sheriff's office or the jail only receives the money and releases the person. ORS 169.320 makes the sheriff the keeper of the county jail and allows the sheriff to appoint a keeper, but the sheriff remains responsible. Justices of the Peace in Oregon are the hybrid office: a JP is both a state-authorised judicial officer and a county elected official, elected to a six-year term, with the county paying for the court. The 7th District's four judges 'share responsibility for all the Seventh District Circuit Courts including Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco, and Wheeler counties', so the judge who sets security for a Wasco County arrestee may be sitting in Hood River. NORCOR's own bail page tells people that the security amount shown for a person in custody is normally 10 per cent of the court's security amount, and that it can change at any time because of changes in the charges or a court's action.

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

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →