Climbing caseloads.

Byline: The Register-Guard

As Lane County residents consider whether to support the county's income tax proposal in the Nov. 7 election, they should understand the precarious state of the public safety system it would expand and fund.

Parole and probation services are among the many stress points in a criminal justice system that has been weakened by inadequate funding and an increasing population.

In recent years, caseloads for the county's probation and parole officers have run 25 percent higher than the state average. The intensive workloads mean offenders often receive less supervision. And less supervision translates into less safety for the public, and less time and effort that can be devoted to rehabilitation and prevention of recidivism.

Other stress points in the system also impair the ability of parole and probation officers to do their work. For example, the district attorney's office is often too overloaded to file probation violations in the courts. When probation officers send offenders back to jail to sanction them for violations, they often end up being released early because of overcrowding. A shortage of substance-abuse and mental-health treatment services means offenders often don't receive the help they need.

Parole and probation services have a three-fold mandate: to hold offenders accountable, to protect the public and to rehabilitate offenders. All three of those vital missions have been undermined in a county public safety system that's stretched to the limit.