Continue to Stand in the Gap: Harney County

Whitehorse Ranch, Harney County, Oregon

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Micah 5:2

Harney County is our largest county by land size but with less than one person per square mile. We’ve explored some of the history and unusual geographical features here, here, and here.

Burns is the county seat, the Burns-Hines area has 60% of the population with the rest scattered over the 10,000 square mile range and ranchland.

Harney County is one of the six Oregon counties still operating under the County Court system with a judge and two commissioners.

Harney County, Oregon

Bill Hart, the Harney County Judge, was born in Burns and spent 34 years in law enforcement as well as being in the military and working overseas, before retiring and being elected County Judge in 2022. Patty Dorroh has been a commissioner the longest, first appointed to fill a vacancy, then elected in 2018. She was reelected in 2022. Kristin Shelman was elected in 2020.

Sheriff Dan Jenkins graduated from Crane Union High School in 1993. After four years in the military, he worked as a cowboy for a while in the Intermountain West, then attended the Idaho Police Academy, working as a patrol deputy in Idaho for several years. He took a break when his children were young, going back to ranch life, then went back to work as a police officer in Harney County in 2014. In 2020 he was appointed to fill the remainder of previous Sheriff Dave Ward's term. Dave Ward was the Sheriff during the 2016 Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff in Harney County. Sheriff Ward was commended for his handling of the situation, but the event had a polarizing effect on both Harney and next-door Grant counties, pitting neighbors, politicians, and even law enforcement on opposing sides.

The current commissioners and sheriff are all relatively new appointees or newly elected to their positions. Another newcomer is Harney County Circuit Court Judge RobertRaschio, who was elected to the bench of the 24^th Judicial District Circuit Court (which includes Harney and Grant Counties) in 2020 to replace retiring Judge William D. Cramer, who had presided over the court for a couple of decades. Judge Raschio had been in private practice in Canyon City before that.

In 2022 the gun control bill, Measure 114, was passed by Oregon voters and has been tied up in state and federal court cases since then. The law is one of the most restrictive in the U.S., and this month Judge Raschio struck it down, ruling that it violates the state constitution. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is determined to appeal.

Even though the county is very rural, heavily conservative, and sparsely populated, political tensions are as evident here as elsewhere in the state. News from Harney County and the county seat, Burns, focuses on school events and the annual Migratory Bird Festival, but since the 2016 standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, there has been some trouble and strife among citizens and elected officials. Pray for the peace and protection of Harney County, and for the wisdom of those now in leadership.