Inclement Weather & Emergencies

Snowed in car at house

Phone line for inclement weather and natural disasters

The Department of Community Justice has an inclement weather and natural disaster phone message line accessible to all staff for information about facility closures and / or employee reassignments to alternate facilities. The hotline is updated by 5:30 a.m. with available information.

Phone line: 503.988.6757

Department procedures for staff notification

For the Department of Community Justice, the following is a reminder of how we intend to inform staff about the closure or delayed openings of facilities in the event of bad weather.

  • For information about DCJ closures or delays, listen to the news media or call the DCJ Inclement Weather Hotline at (503) 988-6757.  The hotline will be updated by 5:30 AM in the event of inclement weather, and will include information about Court closures, if the information is available at the time of the update.
  • Do not expect a call from your supervisor to alert you to any closures or delays.  It is each staff person's responsibility to check the news or the hotline before making a decision to come to work.

Essential services and personnel

The following units have been designated as "Essential Services/Personnel" (24/7 operations that must function regardless of conditions) and are expected to report to work even in the event of inclement weather:

Adult Services Division: Recog Staff

If the Courts are Open, the following are defined as essential staff: JC2 and Pre-Trial Supervision Program (PSP) Staff 

Juvenile Services Division: Juvenile Detention Staff, Juvenile Residential Alcohol and Drug (RAD) Staff, Nutrition Services Staff

If the Juvenile Court is Open, the following are defined as essential staff: Placement Coordinator, Community Detention / Electronic Monitoring (CD/EM) Juvenile Counselors, Operations Supervisor, Child Abuse Unit (CAU) Staff, and Support & Document Services Staff

Staff Unable to Report to Work

If County Operations are open, but you feel that you cannot report to work because of the weather in your area, please use your best judgment in deciding whether or not to come to work.  This type of absence will need to be covered by vacation, accrued comp time, or saved holiday time.

If you have any questions, please talk to your supervisor or District / Section Manager.

General information for employees

Call in sick protocol for DCJ:
This one page document lists who you should call, when you should call, and what you should do when you are sick, with specific information about particular buildings and units (for the Mead, Recog and Juvenile Detention).

How to access your email from home:
This one page document reminds you on how you can receive, send and check your email and calendar from home, using a computer that has internet access.

How to access and change voicemail passwords and greetings:
This one page document reminds you on how you can receive, change and check your voicemail message from home.

DCJ’s H1N1 Business Continuity Plan (2009-10):
This brief document identifies the most critical work that DCJ does, and identifies what the department would need to do to keep these functions going, should we experience a 30 percent reduction in staff due to illness.

Multnomah County Health Department:  
The Multnomah County Health Department is in a position to provide all county staff and residents with the latest information on health issues affecting the county and preventative steps you can take.