Baker County approves three-year lease for juvenile department offices

Baker County kept its juvenile department in place east of the courthouse, approving a three-year lease that avoids a disruptive move and gives the county breathing room after a proposed rent jump threatened the office’s stability. At the current $550 monthly rate, the space costs $6,600 a year, or $19,800 over three years, before any other operating costs.

The office at 2196 Court Ave. in Baker City is a working public-service site, not an empty county room waiting for a use. Juvenile department director Staci Erickson, juvenile court counselor Bryan Dalke, youth accountability officer Ray Day and office manager Tara Talbott are listed there, and the office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a noon-to-1 p.m. lunch closure. Under Oregon’s juvenile justice system, county juvenile departments work with the Oregon Youth Authority to provide sanctions and services for youth ages 12 to 17, which makes steady office space important for court-related supervision and day-to-day contact with families.

The lease fight surfaced at the March 18 meeting, when commissioners declined to accept a proposed increase from $550 a month to $1,500 a month, a jump of $950 monthly and $11,400 a year. The building’s owner, Cliff Robertson, said he bought the property for $220,000, wants more rental revenue to improve it, including replacing crumbling sidewalks, and said higher insurance costs were more than he expected. He also said he was willing to keep the rent at $550 through June 30, the end of the county’s fiscal year, while Baker County considered its options. Commission chair Shane Alderson said the county would need to look at other options.

The building sits at the corner of Court Avenue and Third Street, just east of the courthouse, and totals 4,258 square feet. It was built in 1935 and last sold in 2013 for $125,000. Robertson also has other tenants in the building, including the Rachel Pregnancy Center.

The April 15 vote comes as Baker County has already been under pressure on juvenile costs. In February, commissioners approved a $30,000 transfer to cover unusually high detention expenses after two criminal cases involving several juvenile suspects more than doubled the county’s usual cost. Erickson said in October that youth crime over the previous two years had been unlike anything she had seen in 25 years with the department and that staff had been “running us ragged.” The lease decision does not end the county’s budget strain, but it does keep one critical juvenile service from becoming the next disruption.