People caught with small amounts of street drugs will be eligible for a program that lets them avoid arrest only if they haven’t failed previous deflection efforts under the latest plan put forth by Multnomah County on Friday.

Previously, the county had not imposed limits on the number of times a person could choose deflection over arrest.

The county is rapidly developing its approach in response to House Bill 4002, which will make minor drug possession a misdemeanor. The rollback of Measure 110 takes effect Sept. 1.

Lawmakers emphasized that they expect counties to develop policies to help people caught with drugs avoid jail and arrest. Those policies, known as deflection, are supposed to help move people toward treatment.

A spokesperson for the county said the team steering the county’s approach on Friday narrowed the eligibility requirements: It will be available only to people new to the program or those who have successfully completed it before. People who entered the program and failed the requirements aren’t eligible to participate for another 30 days.

Ryan Yambra, a county spokesperson, said the committee also filled in the requirements for completing deflection.

People who opt for deflection will be required to undergo a substance abuse screening, receive a treatment referral and engage “with a service or referral as recommended” within 30 days.

If the person fails to complete any of those steps, they won’t be eligible for deflection again for a month and if police find them with small amounts of drugs during that period, they face arrest.

Friday’s developments come after weeks of intense scrutiny and criticism of the plan by some lawmakers, the incoming district attorney and members of the public.

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson has led the deflection plan effort in collaboration a team that includes elected leaders, law enforcement officials and others. The county said the Gresham and Portland police chiefs, District Attorney Mike Schmidt, two Multnomah County judges, representatives of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office and county officials took part in Friday’s meeting, where the latest terms were developed.

The group’s meetings have been held behind closed doors, leading to criticism from Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, who has pressed for a more detailed and complete plan from county staff and Vega Pederson.

On Friday, Brim-Edwards said the latest development is the kind of specificity she has sought, though she said she wants a more detailed explanation of the requirement that people engage in the services they’re referred to.

She said the county needs to remain focused on a plan that provides people a path to treatment and also holds them accountable

“It’s definitely progress,” she said.

Voters decriminalized street drugs in 2020, approving Measure 110. But the law’s popularity soured amid the fentanyl epidemic, prompting lawmakers to act this year.

Vega Pederson has said the county is working quickly to stand up a program that will provide an alternate to jail. The county recently leased a building in the Buckman neighborhood that will serve as the base for the county’s deflection program. The county hired a Baltimore-based treatment nonprofit to operate the facility.

-- Noelle Crombie is an enterprise reporter with a focus on criminal justice. Reach her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.

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