JOHN DAY — Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer’s deputization of two county commissioners does not appear to violate state nepotism and conflict of interest laws.

Grant County Commissioners Sam Palmer, the sheriff’s brother, and Jim Hamsher said they have been deputized, though County Clerk Brenda Percy said no record has been filed with her for the appointments.

Glenn Palmer refused to answer questions about the deputies, but Hamsher and Sam Palmer addressed concerns about perceived conflicts of interest because the Grant County Court provides oversight of all county departments, including the sheriff’s office, and sets department budgets.

Sam Palmer said he volunteers as a nurse on a tactical team with Undersheriff Zach Mobley and is a search and rescue volunteer.

“I do both for free, and under Oregon law (that) presents no actual or perceived conflict of interest,” Sam Palmer said.

State nepotism laws prohibit public employees from directly supervising relatives, but the laws do not apply for someone supervising a volunteer.

Ronald A. Bersin, the executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, said a conflict of interest only exists in the legal sense if there is a private monetary benefit for the party in question. In terms of a conflict on the sheriff’s part, Bersin said a benefit for the sheriff’s office budget would not amount to a private benefit for the sheriff.

“A conflict of interest only exists if there is a private pecuniary benefit to the sheriff,” Bersin said. “Any budget benefit to his office would not qualify as a statutory conflict of interest, because it contains no private pecuniary benefit to the sheriff.”

A conflict of interest could occur, for example, if the county commissioners voted to pay emergency operations center volunteers, including themselves, which would provide them with a private monetary benefit.

Hamsher said people concerned about how the situation presents a conflict of interest should also consider that the budget committee consists of the two commissioners, the county judge and three citizens at large, so the commissioners cannot set the budget themselves.

Hamsher said each member of the court serves as a liaison to seven county departments, and he is assigned to the sheriff’s office. He said being deputized gives him more access to confidential law enforcement information that allows him to weigh in on personnel issues within the sheriff’s office before they become problems.

“Jim is privileged to a lot of information and knows the goings-on of my office,” Sheriff Palmer said in a Facebook post.

Hamsher said, despite the access to confidential law enforcement databases, he does not enforce the law, make traffic stops or make arrests.

Another concern regarding the role of special deputies within the sheriff’s office is the liability to the county. The county’s insurer, Citycounty Insurance Services, said in an email forwarded to the Blue Mountain Eagle that the coverage agreement covers Grant County elected officials, employees and authorized volunteers — but they did not answer if special deputies, who are not certified by the state, would be covered in the event of a wrongful death or civil rights violation.

The Eagle emailed Sheriff Palmer requesting a phone interview with the questions provided ahead of time to allow him to prepare. The Eagle offered to record the audio and run it alongside the online article to ensure fairness and accuracy in the reporting.

Sheriff Palmer refused to answer questions about the authority of non-certified deputies when interacting with the public, about the sheriff’s office’s relationship with the COVID-19 emergency operations center and whether other non-certified people had been deputized.

“It has been my policy for quite some time to not respond to media requests of any sort,” Sheriff Palmer replied in an email. “From what I have seen it hasn’t been fair nor accurate.”

Sheriff Palmer has not contacted the EO Media Group about any inaccurate information.