Baker County commissioners OK 4-year contract with police union

BAKER CITY — The Baker County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Nov. 9, approved a four-year contract with the union that represents most employees in the sheriff’s office, parole and probation department and emergency dispatch center. Members of the Baker County Law Enforcement Association, about 36 employees, had been working under terms of the previous three-year contract since it expired June 30, 2025. The contract, which union members have ratified, does not include Sheriff Travis Ash or five supervisors. Deputy Rich Kirby, who works in the parole and probation department, said more than 75% of the union members voted in favor of the contract. The pay increases were based in part on a comparison of salaries for similar jobs in several other counties, including Jefferson, Hood River, Curry, Morrow, Lake and Wallowa. Baker County salaries in many cases were from 80% to 93% of the average for a similar job in those counties.

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