Head of Human Resources at Sheriff’s Office Is Out

Jennifer Grogan, head of human resources at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, is out of her job, a spokesperson confirmed this afternoon.

The office would not say why, but Grogan has overseen a staffing crisis at the agency as it failed to recruit sufficient deputies to replace a wave of retirements. The jails are so short-staffed that outside inspectors say the crisis is jeopardizing the safety of inmates. Eleven have died in custody since 2022.

Grogan’s last day was Dec. 2. “We have an internal staffing coverage plan while a recruitment is being created and processed,” the spokesperson said.

Jenny Carver, the office’s deputy chief of staff, will temporarily take over Grogan’s role, according to an internal message from Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell viewed by WW.

The correction deputies union overwhelmingly approved a vote of no confidence in Grogan in 2021, the Portland Tribune reported at the time. The union said it was “a last resort to protect our members” amidst rampant short-staffing.

The problem persists. WW has been reporting on the consequences of the short-staffing crisis for more than a year (“Cell Death,” Aug. 16, 2023).

The office routinely has around 80 to 90 vacancies, the sheriff recently said, even as the number of inmates increases while city officials push to jail more people for low-level offenses.

The county approved an emergency $1 million injection of funding to speed up recruiting last month.