It was standing room only in Harney County Judge Pete Runnels’ office during the Harney County Court meeting on April 10. The crowd gathered to discuss Ordinance 2019-86, Harney County’s Second Amendment preservation ordinance.

In summary, the ordinance states that, “Harney County strongly supports the right of the people to keep and bear arms as stated in the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the Great State of Oregon, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court and the Oregon Supreme Court, and vigorously opposes any state or federal law that unconstitutionally infringes upon these rights.”

The first reading of the ordinance took place during the county court meeting on March 27. As per county policy, the ordinance must be read twice before it can be adopted, and Runnels encouraged the public to provide input.

During the meeting on April 10, Runnels noted that a citizen suggested adding language to the ordinance.

Ordinance 2019-86 now states that “to preserve the right of the people of, on, and in Harney County,” the court “will not authorize or appropriate governmental funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers, or offices for the purpose of enforcing any element of such acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules, or regulations that infringe on the right by the people to keep and bear arms, including, but not limited to the following:

1. Registration requirements for existing lawfully owned firearms;

2. Prohibitions, regulations, and/or use restrictions related to ownership of non-fully automatic firearms, including but not limited to semiautomatic firearms (including semiautomatic firearms that have appearance or features similar to fully automatic firearms and/or military “assault-style” firearms);

3. Prohibition, regulations, and/or use restrictions limiting hand grips, stock, flash suppressors, bayonet mounts, magazine capacity, clip capacity, internal capacity, or types of ammunition available for sale, possession, or use;

4. Registration and background check requirements beyond those customarily required at time of purchase prior to December 2012; and

5. Restrictions prohibiting the possession, carry, or transport of lawfully acquired firearms or purchase of, or quantity on hand of ammunition by law-abiding adult citizens or minors supervised by adults.”

(The bold text indicates language that was added to the ordinance during the county court meeting on April 10.)

The ordinance, which acknowledges preexisting law, was also revised to recognize the prohibition of use or possession of bump stocks.

“Our ordinances cannot trump state or federal law,” Runnels explained.

He also noted that signatures were collected and presented to the court in support of making Harney County a Second Amendment sanctuary county. Runnels and Harney County Commissioner Mark Owens clarified that this effort was not initiated by the court, and Ordinance 2019-86 does not include language regarding a sanctuary county.

Harney County Commissioner Patty Dorroh read Ordinance 2019-86 in its entirety, and copies were distributed to the audience.

Kim Rollins said he supports the efforts of the court, but asserted that the ordinance is weak because it lacks penalties for violations.

“If you write this stuff up and one of your employees goes ahead and proceeds with enforcing one of the restrictions that this is supposed to prevent, then that employee should have consequences,” Rollins said.

Noting that he’s testified in Salem and met with Runnels numerous times, Rollins added, “I feel disappointed and angry because I wasn’t contacted when you were doing this.”

Runnels replied that Harney County’s ordinance is modeled after Curry County’s, which is the ordinance that he and Rollins agreed upon the most. Rollins said he prefers Columbia County’s ordinance. However, he noted that it’s being reviewed.

“If it comes out in favor of the document, then that one will be the one that counties in Oregon will use as a model,” Rollins said.

Kerry Boggs, owner of Harney County Sporting Goods, asked how the ordinance will help people who sell guns for a living.

“How is this going to help me in my position, selling a product in Harney County, when I still have all these state things that come and hit me?” Boggs asked. “According to this ordinance, I can tell them to go pound sand. However, I still answer to the state government and the federal government, and I can’t get away with that. So it would be nice to have something in there that actually kind of helps protect those of us who do these kinds of sales.”

He also expressed concern about an outside entity, such as the Oregon State Police or FBI, enforcing the laws.

Boggs said the ordinance is “a good start,” but it should include penalties for violations and protections from outside entities.

Runnels said language can be added, but it must be vetted by legal counsel, and Rollins suggested consulting with a lawyer who specializes in the Second Amendment.

“By no means are we setting ourselves in stone that this will be our final product, but we would like to adopt something in a timely fashion to show our position,” Owens said. “If in two to three months from now we need to revisit that to add onto it, we are open to that, but we’d like to get a legal opinion on what we’re going to add before we do that. Right now, this is vetted by our legal counsel. It is something we could take action on today.”

By a show of hands, audience members indicated that they’d support the court’s decision to sign the ordinance, knowing that it can be changed in the future.

Owens made a motion to approve Ordinance 2019-86, as read by Dorroh. With no additional discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

“I appreciate you all [for] coming and knowing [that] we have your support,” Runnels said, adding that the court will work with the public to improve the ordinance.

•••

In other business, the court:

• discussed the county’s budget shortfall.

In the 2019-2020 Budget Message, Runnels, who serves as the budget officer, reported that the county started the previous five budget years with an incorrect projected beginning fund balance.

The court will meet with county departments Thursday, May 9, at 10 a.m. to continue discussions regarding cuts.

A meeting to approve the budget will be held Wednesday, June 5.

These meetings are open to the public;

• approved Resolution 2019-11, appointing Harney County Clerk Derrin (Dag) Robinson as the federal certifying officer for the Burns/Hines/Harney County Residential Housing Rehabilitation Program, which is associated with an Oregon Community Development Block Grant.

“This makes it official so that that grant can be realized,” Dorroh explained.

Administered by Community in Action, the grant will make $300,000 available to rehabilitate homes;

• approved a bargain and sale deed for R. Scott and Ellen Franklin for county-owned property in the amount of $17,670. The property is located near Double O Road;

• appointed Benjamin Cate and Melinda (Alexa) Martinez to the Harney County Watershed Council;

• approved Resolution 2019-12, initiating proceedings to vacate Main Avenue, Fifth Street, Sixth Street, Donaldson Avenue, and Leland Street in Crane.

Owens explained that the Crane school districts asked the county to vacate right of ways that go through school grounds.

“There are numerous right of ways that run right through the buildings, right though the football field,” Owens said. “It’s convoluted. It should have been taken care of years ago.”

Runnels added that some of these streets are platted, but don’t exist on the ground.

Harney County Roads Supervisor Eric Drushella will research the matter and report back to the court. A public hearing will be held at a later date;

• upon recommendation by Drushella, accepted a bid from Idaho Asphalt Supply of Nampa, Idaho, for supplying the Harney County Road Department’s asphalt for the 2019 paving season;

• discussed Public Notices of Water Use Requests;

• recognized Angie Temple (5 years), Deanna Atwell (5 years), Phyllis Commeree (10 years), and Jim Withee (20 years) for their service to the county;

• received correspondence from the Bureau of Land Management regarding the Oregon Greater Sage-Grouse Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement. The letter states that the court’s comments did not meet the requirements for filing a valid protest;

• passed Resolution 2019-13 in the matter of declaring a state of emergency within Harney County due to flooding issues.

“A lot of times we do declarations not knowing what the damage is going to be to our area/ our county, but if we have it signed and in place, and if we have dollar amounts that escalate, we can recoup some of that,” Runnels explained.

During the public comment period, Chris Briels expressed concern about rotten sandbags, stated that they were poorly maintained, and asked if they could be stored in a building or placed under a tarp.

“I know it’s an eyesore. We’re working on getting it dealt with,” Runnels replied;

• learned from Gretchen Bates that the Harney County Republican Party is reorganizing. The party will meet the first Thursday of every month at Glory Days Pizza at noon;

• will visit constituents in the Fields area May 8 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Fields Elementary School gymnasium;

• met on Tuesday, April 23;

• rescheduled its May meetings. They will be held May 8 and 22.

The next meeting of the Harney County Court will be held Wednesday, May 8, at 10 a.m. in Runnels’ office at the courthouse.