Oregon
Oregon’s congressional Democrats call out ‘alarming’ issues at Sheridan prison
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Officials showed what an evacuation assembly point at the Newport Municipal Airport can do and provide in an emergency like a Cascadia earthquake.
Six members of Oregon’s congressional delegation sent a letter Friday to the Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding “swift action” on staffing shortages, inmate medical needs and other “alarming” issues at the Federal Correctional Institute in Sheridan.
The demands come after a report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General on Wednesday found “several serious safety and security issues” at FCI Sheridan impacting employees and inmates.
FCI Sheridan houses male inmates at its medium-security prison and minimum-security prison camp which opened in 1989 and at a detention center which opened in 1995.
What the report from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General found
The DOJ OIG conducted an unannounced, on-site inspection of FCI Sheridan between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, 2023, interviewing employees and inmates, reviewing security footage and collecting records related to programs for inmates and education; staffing levels; inmate medical and mental health care; and employee and inmate misconduct.
The medium-security prison was housing 988 inmates within its eight general population units and one special housing unit as of Nov. 28. It was at full capacity, according to the inspector general’s report. The federal detention center was housing 291 inmates, 97% of its capacity, and the camp had 366 inmates, 95% of its capacity.
Among the issues identified was staff shortages. According to the report, FCI Sheridan had 81% of 357 positions filled, and significant use of overtime or “augmentation” was required for the correctional officer posts.
“Even with the use of overtime and augmentation, we found that institution management is not always able to fill all correctional officer posts, which has caused inmates to be minimally supervised or, in certain instances, not supervised at all,” the report said.
The staffing shortages also meant “significant delays” in inmate health care. FCI Sheridan had been without a phlebotomist to draw and prepare blood samples since March 2022, leading to a backlog of 725 lab orders, according to the report. After the on-site visit, FCI Sheridan hired an on-site phlebotomist and reported the backlog was now 44 lab orders as of May. A backlog of 274 X-ray orders was also reduced to 84 following the visit.
Without enough correctional officers to escort inmates to outside appointments, 101 appointments for medical care had been canceled between January and November 2023. Dental care was also delayed at the facility with 350 inmates waiting for routine dental care in October 2023. Of those 350 inmates, 41% had been waiting for two years or more, the report said.
The Residential Drug Abuse Program was suspended entirely three days after the unannounced visit, according to the report. The program had fewer than one-third of the positions filled during the inspection and inmates reported concerns and frustration with their inability to participate in the nine-month program meant to help them address substance-abuse disorders. The program also earns inmates with no violent offenses in their history a one-year reduction credit on their sentence.
“We know this program has since been suspended entirely and the majority of inmates eligible for RDAP were transferred to other facilities offering this programming,” Oregon U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, and Val Hoyle wrote on Friday. “This is an important program for prisoners suffering from substance use disorder and we are concerned it is no longer available at FCI Sheridan.”
‘Deficiencies showcase a comprehensive failure by leadership’
The Democratic legislators wrote they were also concerned with the reported length to investigate and address employee misconduct allegations — 1.5 years in some cases — and the lack of a way to centrally track the number of allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual misconduct reported to FCI Sheridan employees.
“While we are glad to see FCI Sheridan is now tracking this, we are concerned this was not the case less than six months ago,” the letter said.
The legislators wrote they were concerned with the written response from Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters.
“Taken together, these deficiencies showcase a comprehensive failure by leadership at FCI Sheridan and BOP to protect both inmates and prison staff,” the letter said.
Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Salinas, Hoyle and Bonamici included a list of questions in their letter they want answered by the Bureau of Prisons by June 14. They include:
- How many current vacancies, broken down by position, are there at FCI Sheridan?
- How many employees are under investigation for misconduct?
- How does BOP plan to ensure there is a special investigative agent on staff so that similar investigatory backlogs do not occur in the future?
- Does BOP plan to authorize additional staff positions at FCI Sheridan? If so, how many?
- How many inmates are currently waiting to receive routine dental care?
- What does BOP plan to do to reduce the waiting time for dental care?
- What plans does BOP have in place to ensure inmates needing supplemental oxygen are able to receive it in a timely manner?
- When was FCI Sheridan most recently accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care?
- What plans does BOP have in place to ensure a backlog of medical testing does not occur again?
- Does BOP plan to maintain a phlebotomist on staff at FCI Sheridan?
- Does BOP plan to restart the RDAP at FCI Sheridan? If so, when?
- Does BOP plan to digitize all security cameras within FCI Sheridan? If so, by what date?
- Does BOP plan to fund the estimated $21.6 million in infrastructure upgrades needed at FCI Sheridan? If so, by what date?
- Does BOP plan to adopt all of DOJ OIG’s recommendations? If not, why?
- What resources does BOP need from Congress to address these issues across the network of federal prisons?
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo
ROSEBURG, Ore. — A pedestrian was killed when a driver drifted from her lane of travel, striking a Junction City man, according to Oregon State Police.
At 4:48 p.m. on May 5, Oregon State Police responded to a vehicle versus pedestrian fatal crash on Highway 99W near milepost 110.5 in Lane County.
Police say a blue Hyundai Elantra driven by a 16-year-old female, was southbound on Highway 99W near Junction City when she became distracted, left the travel lane, and struck a pedestrian.
The pedestrian, Joel Robert Benjamin Coriell, 35, of Junction City, had been walking along the southbound shoulder of the highway.
Coriell was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries and later died at the hospital.
The driver of the Hyundai had reported minor injuries. She remained on scene and cooperated with the investigation, police said.
The highway was not impacted during the on-scene investigation, OSP stated.
OSP was assisted by the Junction City Police Department, Lane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 6, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 6 drawing
18-27-51-65-68, Powerball: 05, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 6 drawing
1PM: 8-9-4-6
4PM: 0-3-3-1
7PM: 3-7-1-9
10PM: 5-4-8-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Win for Life numbers from May 6 drawing
07-45-52-54
Check Win for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks numbers from May 6 drawing
03-09-10-28-31-39
Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
- Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek responds to heightened immigration enforcement
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and state legislators spoke Jan. 24 about recent immigration enforcement happening across Oregon. Here’s what Kotek said.
Rural Organizing Project, a statewide nonprofit based in Cottage Grove, filed a lawsuit May 5 against Oregon State Police in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleging that the agency is violating the state’s landmark sanctuary laws and sharing Oregonians’ personal data with federal immigration agents.
The nonprofit is asking the court to direct OSP not to share information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration agencies, including driver’s licenses, driver history, driver’s license photographs, vehicle registration data, Social Security numbers and law enforcement records.
ROP claims that federal immigration agencies have repeatedly accessed Oregonians’ information over the past year. They point to two systems OSP operates: the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the state’s Law Enforcement Data System.
The complaint said data provided to OSP by NLETS in February showed authorities involved in immigration enforcement accessed Oregonians’ data more than 1.4 million times in the preceding year. ICE alone queried Oregon for the data 176,576 times, the complaint said. Homeland Security Investigations within the Department of Homeland Security queried 21,363 times, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and DHS accounted for the remainder, the complaint said.
Those numbers do not include all queries of Oregonians’ data, lawyers added, as ICE and HSI agents in Oregon will access the same information separately through the LEDS terminal.
The complaint says OSP has the technical capacity to block immigration enforcement agencies from both systems, but has declined to do so.
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, along with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, and Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, called on states across the country to stop sharing drivers’ data with federal immigration agencies in a November 2025 letter.
Other states, such as Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York, have stopped allowing federal agents to access their residents’ data, according to NLETS testimony to Congress in 2025, the complaint added.
The suit says NLETS provided OSP a spreadsheet listing the specific identification codes ICE uses in late 2025, after an OSP official asked how other states had blocked the agency in the system.
But in February, the complaint said, the agency indicated it would not restrict federal immigration authorities’ access to data via LETS or require federal authorities to use “Reason Codes” that would allow OSP to screen whether the query is for immigration-related purposes.
In a response sent to the Oregon Law Center on Feb. 1, replying to its tort claim notice, OSP said it had taken “reasonable steps” to improve its LEDS agreements with immigration authorities to require compliance with Oregon’s Sanctuary Law. Their letter said terminating the LEDS user agreements, which OSP signed with ICE and DHS in December 2025 and February, would prevent the federal agencies from accessing criminal justice information related to criminal investigations and other governmental purposes.
“If OSP terminated the user agreements, they could be obstructing ongoing criminal investigations,” the letter from OSP said.
OSP also said it did not have the ability to modify the NLETS system.
“Federal agents are storming into our communities, targeting people based on how they look, and disappearing our neighbors,” Martha Ortega, director of Immigrant Centers at Rural Organizing Project, said in a prepared statement. “Oregon State Police are helping them do it. When the state gives our private information to ICE, it is breaking the law and breaking Oregonians’ trust. How many families have been torn apart by Oregon State Police giving their names and photos to federal agents?”
The lawsuit cites testimony in federal court, detailed in a story by The Oregonian, where ICE agents spoke of staking out a neighborhood and randomly running vehicle license plates to find vehicle owners’ names and birthdates for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
“Oregon’s law has clearly prohibited this kind of information sharing for almost 40 years,” said Heather Marek, attorney at Oregon Law Center, which is representing the nonprofit. “Oregonians need Oregon State Police to respect the law and protect their data, immediately and permanently.”
In an email, a spokesperson for Oregon State Police said it would not be making any public comments related to the lawsuit while litigation was pending.
“OSP is committed to following Oregon Sanctuary Laws and has not taken any actions that would violate those laws,” Cpt. Kyle Kennedy added.
But, ROP said in its lawsuit that although the LEDS user agreements prohibit ICE-ERO and HSI from sharing data for immigration enforcement purposes, OSP cannot ensure compliance with the sanctuary laws nor can it reasonably assume compliance given the broader context of the current administration and activity.
More than 6,000 HSI agents have been assigned to immigration enforcement duties, for example, the lawsuit said.
“In the current political and legal context, an agreement to provide resources and information to HSI is an agreement to provide resources and information to support immigration enforcement,” the complaint said.
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com on X @DianneLugo or Bluesky @diannelugo.bsky.social.
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