Benton County Sheriff Van Arsdall Will Not Seek Re-Election, Plans Eastern Oregon Return

Jef Van Arsdall knows Baker County. He spent four years there as Patrol Lieutenant, Dispatch Supervisor, Parole and Probation Lieutenant, and ultimately Undersheriff before Benton County commissioners recruited him west to Corvallis in 2021. Now, after more than five years running a sheriff's office that serves a county of 95,000 people, he is heading back east.

Van Arsdall announced he will not seek re-election as Benton County Sheriff in 2026. The decision is personal, not professional. In an interview with Philomath News journalist Brad Fuqua, Van Arsdall put it plainly: "I miss my kids." His adult children live in Eastern Oregon, and he and his wife Raeann, married more than 30 years, made the choice as a family unit. His daughter is already married; his son is engaged.

The return brings a nearly 30-year law enforcement career back to Baker County's orbit. Van Arsdall got his start as a reserve deputy with the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Hillsboro in 1996, spent 18 years with the Corvallis Police Department rising from patrol officer through sergeant to lieutenant, then arrived at the Baker County Sheriff's Office in Baker City in 2017. He became Undersheriff the following year, a post he held until Benton County commissioners appointed him sheriff by a unanimous 3-0 vote on March 15, 2021.

He has not announced plans for a specific role after leaving Benton County. Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash oversees an office that covers 3,089 square miles and a population of roughly 16,668, about one-sixth of Benton County's. Van Arsdall's previous four years working that same territory, capped by the Undersheriff post, give him institutional familiarity that goes well beyond knowing the geography.

His Benton County tenure included a notable achievement amid statewide pressure: keeping the office fully staffed when other Oregon departments could not. His two stated frustrations were a voter-rejected jail bond and the state's reluctance to fund additional parole-probation officers, a specialty he deepened during his Baker City years.

His current term expires at the end of 2026. Deputy Sgt. Scott Bressler, who brings 37 years of law enforcement experience, filed for the May 19, 2026 primary as the sole candidate, placing him directly on the November 3 general election ballot without a contested primary.

Van Arsdall, raised on the Oregon coast and a 1990 graduate of Seaside High School, earned his BS in Administration of Justice from Portland State University in 1995. When he left Baker City for Corvallis in 2021, he was heading to become a county sheriff. When he returns, he will simply be home.