Leadership & Advisory Committees
The Benton County Board of Commissioners in collaboration with the Benton County Sheriff and County Administrator, are the primary decision-makers for the Justice System Improvement Program. The Board of Commissioners—with input from staff, advisory committees, and the public—are responsible for directing the County Administrator to implement the recommendations for the Justice System Improvement Program.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee brings departmental leaders and elected representatives together to ensure an aligned and coordinated effort. The role of each committee member is to provide expertise and insight in their given area, ensure accountability for timely decision making, and to develop recommendations to advance the Justice System Improvement Program. This committee includes the following elected officials and staff:
Sheriff Jefri Van Arsdall, Executive Co-Sponsor
District Attorney John Haroldson, Executive Co-Sponsor
Commissioner Xan Augerot
Honorable Locke A. Williams, Presiding Circuit Court Judge
Rick Crager, Chief Financial Officer
Suzanne Hoffman, County Administrator, former Health Department Director
Joe Kerby, former County Administrator
Nick Kurth, JSIP Project Manager
Gary Stockhoff, Public Works Director
Matt Wetherell, Juvenile Department Director
Community Advisory Committee
The Community Advisory Committee was formed in 2020 to serve as advisors during the first round of community engagement. The committee includes a diverse collection of community members from across the County. The committee met from December 2020 to June 2021 and began meeting again in July 2022. This committee is a key link to the broader Benton County communities and provided input and feedback on evolving conceptual designs to ensure alignment with Benton County’s core values and the objectives of the 2018 assessment.
Kate Caldwell, Community member (formerly Exec Director of CARDV)
Ricardo Contreras, Casa Latinos Unidos
Helen Cunha, Community member
John Gotchall, MD, The Arc of Benton County
Cornelia Levy-Bencheton, Community member
Elona Meyer, Community member
Carole Millie, OSU Student Conduct and Community Standards
Malcolm “Mal” Miner, Rotary Club of Greater Corvallis
Andrea Myhre, Corvallis Housing First
Karen Nibler, Corvallis League of Women Voters
Mary Anne Nusrala, Corvallis League of Women Voters
John Sarna, Benton County Republicans
Roberta Smith, Community member
Gordon Zimmerman, Business community
Please visit the Community Meetings page for more information about upcoming meetings.
Technical Advisory Committee
This group met monthly starting in November 2020 and completed their work in June 2021. This committee included subject-matter experts, both internal to the County, as well as members at-large, who advised on issues spanning the justice system and relative to program objectives. Thank you to the following individuals who served on this committee:
Captain John Devaney, Benton County Sheriff’s Office
Chief Nick Hurley, Corvallis Police Department
Chief Marcia Harnden, Albany Police Department
Amie Matusko, Senior Deputy DA, District Attorney’s Office
Chris Westfall, Trial Court Administrator
Dannielle Brown, (former) Benton County Director Behavioral Health
Paul Wallsinger, Benton County Director Facilities
Representative, Benton County Finance
Representative, City of Corvallis Community Development
At-Large
Mike Flinn, Defense Consortium
At-Large
Professor David Trejo, OSU Engineering
At-Large
Professor Brett Burkhardt, OSU Sociology
At-Large
Stacy Mellem, Community Volunteer and Technical Advisory Committee liaison
At-Large
Rick Hein, Governor’s Citizen Representative, Willamette Criminal Justice Council
At-Large
Bill Bouska, Director of Community Solutions and Government Affairs, Samaritan Health Services
One or more of the at-large members served on the Community Advisory Committee in a liaison capacity. Other representatives from the City and County were invited to participate as needed.