Recall Petitions filed for Gilliam County Judge and Commissioner

Judge Elizabeth Farrar Campbell will face her second recall and Commissioner Pat Shannon his first, after petitions were filed with the Gilliam County Clerk, Ellen Wagenaar on February 22.

A committee called We the People of Gilliam County – Farrar, and We the People Gilliam County – Shannon, have filed the petitions.

The chief sponsor for the recall petition against Judge Farrar Campbell is Denny Newell of Arlington (Blalock). The chief petitioner to recall Commissioner Pat Shannon is Dawn Parm of Condon.

The petitioners allege that the court's decision to transfer probate court was in violation of Oregon law, which has vested jurisdiction of probate court in six rural county courts in Oregon (ORS 111.075). Along with Gilliam County – Sherman, Wheeler, Harney, Grant, and Malheur have probate jurisdiction that was established in 1969 by the Oregon Legislature.

The Gilliam County Court made the decision to transfer juvenile and probate court to the Gilliam County Circuit Court on December 6, 2023. In doing so, the court created a mechanism to remove the judicial duties from the county judge position. As protest from a portion of the public mounted, the county court dedicated two court meetings to discuss a potential change and solicited public comment.

The County Court has maintained that they have received legal counsel, which affirmed their stance and the legality of their decision. Several people questioned that position during contentious county court meetings in January.

But when the court asked the Oregon Legislature to intervene and to provide a legislative fix, the public outcry grew. Gilliam County Judge Farrar Campbell worked with Rep. Mark Owens to introduce legislation which would give county courts the option to transfer jurisdiction of probate cases.

Ultimately, the Senate Judiciary Committee opted to remove the amendment to transfer probate or alter the six county courts.

Afterwards, Commissioner Pat Shannon said that he planned to remove the probate jurisdiction portion of the ordinance. But by this time, an effort was underway to begin the recall petition against Judge Farrar and Commissioner Shannon.

Despite it being an election year for Commissioner Shannon, and Judge Farrar Campbell has decided not to seek reelection – organizers for the recall, particularly in the north end of the county – pushed on.

Denny Newell, who ran for Gilliam County Commissioner in 2022, is the chief petitioner with We the People of Gilliam County – Farrar.

Newell says that the county court made a critical error when they explored changes to county government.

"Citizens should have been provided greater opportunity in determining the direction Gilliam County Court has taken," Newell said. He continued, saying "Change is inevitable but Elizbeth Farrar-Campbell has forged and is forging long term changes (some irreversible) and citizens have a right to expect greater participation in determining if, when, and how they occur."

For Judge Farrar Campbell, this is the second recall that she has faced since taking office in 2019. The recall in 2021 alleged that the Judge didn't live in Gilliam County but the recall failed 430-363.

As this is the second recall against her, Gilliam County will make the petitioner pay for the first recall. Those funds, a total of $2,000, were submitted to the County Clerk's Office with the recall petition.

Gilliam County Clerk Ellen Wagenaar received the petitions on February 22 and as of press time, was working to approve signature sheets for each petition. Once approved, the petitioners can circulate signature sheets.

Each petition will require 150 valid signatures and must be submitted by May 22, 2024. From there, the county clerk will notify the chief petitioners and public officers of the results of the signature verification. Should there be an insufficient number of signatures submitted by May 22, the recall effort will end. But if 150 or more signatures are gathered for each recall petition, Judge Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Shannon will be given the option to resign in five days, or to submit their statements of justification within five days and to hold a special election.

Should the petitioners get the required number of signatures, the special election could overlap with the primaries for Gilliam County Elections – including the primaries for Judge, and Commissioner #2, which Comm. Pat Shannon currently holds.

The primary election will be held on May 21, 2024.