Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler.

Although he doesn’t like to use the word “crisis,” Sheriff Nate Sickler does not completely deny that it could be used describe capacity limitations at the Jackson County Jail that fuel a revolving door for all but those accused of the most serious of crimes.

“You can only use that word for so long, but the truth hasn’t changed,” Sickler said Tuesday in a presentation to entry-level corrections deputies.

Sickler swore in five deputies

Tuesday — the latest to join the ranks at the jail, now in its 42nd year of operation at 787 W. Eighth St., Medford.

For Sickler, who has served as sheriff since 2017, the jail has long been a top priority — and not just on the campaign trail.

“The jail is always going to be at the forefront; it causes a lot of grief, anxiety and issues,” Sickler said. “I’m not going to use the word ‘crisis’ every day because it sounds a bit dramatic. But does it affect us everyday? Yes.”

The jail, built in 1981, was designed to hold up to 176 inmates, according to information provided by Sickler. Now it holds 346 beds, but the number of inmates housed in the facility is less than that.

The maximum operating capacity is approximately 300 at night and 285 during the day.

In 2019, the Jackson County Jail saw 13,109 people booked at the facility. But during the pandemic, that number decreased in fluctuations, from 9,011 in 2020 to 9,517 in 2022.

“There was a lot less activity for the first part of the year in COVID-19, as far as enforcement; maybe people didn’t go out,” Sickler said. “2020, 2021 and part of 2022 is not going to be like the years prior.”

In 2023, Sickler said, booking numbers are still lower than before, in part because of Oregon Senate Bill 48, which bases certain suspects’ release from jail on how dangerous they are to society.

“It doesn’t mean you need less space (in the jail),” Sickler said.

“We just have a high crime rate,” he said. “It’s hard to compare Portland to here. … Arguably, I’m sure, they don’t take as many people to jail just because of the political climate up there. But Portland is not doing very well.”

The number of adults on supervision in Jackson County was 1,711 on Feb. 1, 2022. But by March 1, 2023, that number had risen to 1,880.

The number of high-risk offenders was 505 on the same February date. But by March 1, the following year, that number had risen to 649.

“One piece of it is we’ve had more criminal incidents as we’re coming out of COVID-19,” Sickler said.

In his presentation, Sickler said the recent jail statistics translate to reduced safety for officers and inmates and a negative psychological effect on staff because of the increased workload, among other impacts. Those include an increase in 911 calls, property crimes, warrants served, and even “little truth” from offenders in sentencing hearings.

“Everything is still relevant today, maybe even more so,” Sickler said.

The sheriff is not shy about the need for a new jail. He pushed for a ballot measure in 2020 to create a jail district. Property taxes would have paid for a new facility and the cost of operating the facility, but with the pandemic breaking out just months before the election, the timing was bad, and voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea.

“Of course, I still advocate for that all the time,” Sickler said of the need for a new jail. “We just don’t have a mechanism decided right now on how a new jail would be created and paid for.”

Sickler said he hopes 47 acres of land across from the sheriff’s office headquarters in Central Point would provide a place for a new jail to be constructed. The cost of such a facility, Sickler told corrections officers, is only expected to increase in the coming years.

For now, Sickler said, the county will just use the jail it has.

“There’s not a lot we can do to change the facility. We can’t add on to it, so we are just going to make the most of what we have and do as good a job as we can,” he said.

Sickler said he believes the work of the jail personnel can be carried out, in part, by the entry-level corrections deputies he swore in and who attended his presentation.

“Obviously, we want them to have a successful career … and be safe and just realize the positive impact they have in the community by doing the job that they do,” Sickler said.