The Union County Board of Commissioners voted July 16, 2025,to approve a new contract between the sheriff's office, five school districts and an education service district to provide school resource officers in the districts.(The Observer, File).

UNION COUNTY — The Union County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted Wednesday, July 16, to approve a new agreement between the county sheriff’s office, five local school districts and the InterMountain Education Service District for school resources officers in Cove, La Grande, North Powder, Union and Imbler.

“We will officially have three school resource officers for Union County schools,” Sheriff Cody Bowen said. “And we will have deputy presence at every school in Union County.”

The school resources officers work eight hour shifts and split their time between schools daily. Their duties include being present and visible at school, interacting with students, coordinating emergency response and conducting investigations.

Commissioners thanked Bowen and all of the superintendents for the work that went into the new contract.

“An ounce of prevention,” Commissioner Paul Anderes said, “Is a whole lot better than a pound of cure.”

Each of the school districts will receive additional services under the new contract, Bowen said, with the exception of Cove School District, whose superintendent was happy with the same level of service.

“What that looks like is one new full-time position,” Bowen said. “And that school resource officer is going to be split up amongst a couple different things.”

Students at Imbler will now receive the BEST Program, which is a curriculum the school resource officer leads that helps students with a “decision-making process of saying no to drugs.”

Union and North Powder school districts wanted more law enforcement presence during extracurricular activities, Bowen said, while La Grande School District specifically wanted additional services at its middle school.

The InterMountain Education Service District wanted some additional law enforcement presence as well, according to Bowen, due to issues with vandalism, stolen gas and people trespassing. So, the sheriff’s office will have a deputy — not necessarily a school resource officer — spend time around the IMESD building.

“(They will) just pop in every once in a while, cruise through the parking lot, walk through their building,” Bowen said. “Just let them know that we’re around, so they agreed to pay some extra as well.

Elgin School District is not included in the contract.

“Elgin has always been fairly content with the contract deputies that are out there,” Bowen said. “And they pop into the schools quite a bit throughout the week, so they’ve been happy with that service.”

The new contract provides police services for the six districts for the 2025 through 2029 school years. The total yearly cost of the contract is divided between the IMESD and the school districts. The contract increases by 2% annually.

The total cost for the 2025-26 school year is $188,811.46 and the cost to each district is:

• Cove: $23,452.34
• La Grande: $47,589.78
• North Powder: $30,089.78
• Union: $30,089.78
• Imbler: $25,000
• IMESD: $32,589.78

The total cost for the 2026-27 school year is $192,587.71 and the cost to each district is:

• Cove: $23,921.39
• La Grande: $45,541.58
• North Powder: $30,691.58
• Union: $30,691.58
• Imbler: $25,500
• IMESD: $33,241.58

The total cost for the 2027-28 school year is $196,439.46 and the cost to each district is:

• Cove: $24,399.82
• La Grande: $49,512.41
• North Powder: $31,305.41
• Union: $31,305.41
• Imbler: $26,010
• IMESD: $33,906.41

The total cost for the 2028-29 school year is $200,368.24 and the cost to each district is:

• Cove: $24,887.80
• La Grande: $50,502.66
• North Powder: $31,931.52
• Union: $31,931.52
• Imbler: $26,530.20
• IMESD: $34,584.54

Payments for each year will be divided into installments due in November, February and May.