Kotek won’t extradite criminals if they’re out-of-state (to save $$)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

One of Oregon’s most notorious thieves is living peacefully in Ohio because Governor Tina Kotek has refused to extradite her back to Oregon to face trial.

The suspect, Elisha Young, stole $100,000 from the newspaper Eugene Weekly.  So devastating it was, that it forced to the newspaper to fold for a long period of time and layoff 10 staffers.

KEZI reports, “According to the Eugene Weekly, Young walked out of jail shortly after she was arrested because the office of Oregon Governor Tina Kotek declined to pay for her extradition. The paper said they were never notified, and only found out Young had been released when they called the jail in Ohio themselves. Camilla Mortensen, the editor in chief at the Eugene Weekly, said the decision not to extradite felt like a betrayal.“You don’t just lose money. There’s an emotional component to that, and a sense of betrayal to that, and I think it’s important to have someone face the consequences and also there be a record of that so that the person can’t go out and you know, embezzle another business,” Mortensen said.”

Kotek said “each extradition request is assessed on a case-by-case basis. The  office approves the cost and the means of transportation, as the state does not have the financial resources to extradite every fugitive.”   Kotek also said they will only likely extradite if the criminal is in a border state to Oregon.

It comes down to a cost-saving measure.

Just like Kotek won’t spend the money to process 18,000 sex offenders (she has a bill to let many of them go free from registration).