Commission

Criminal Justice Commission Members

The Commission consists of nine members, seven of whom are voting members appointed by the Governor. The remaining two members are nonvoting members appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.

Paul Solomon (Chair) - Executive Director, Sponsors Inc.

Paul Solomon is the Executive Director at Sponsor, an Oregon based non-profit organization dedicated to serving individuals with conviction histories. Paul has worked at Sponsors for over 20 years and has served as Executive Director since 2011. Sponsors is recognized nationally, regionally and throughout Oregon as a model for prisoner reentry services. The agency operates 20 buildings on 6 sites with over 240 beds of transitional and long-term housing and ancillary programs for justice involved individuals. Paul manages a staff of approximately 50 employees and a $5.5 million annual operating budget.
Paul serves as the chair of Lane County’s Public Safety Coordinating Council and Lane County’s Reentry Task Force. He co-chairs the Governor’s Racial Justice Council on Criminal Justice Reform and Police Accountability and serves on the Governor’s Reentry Council; the board of Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation; the University of Oregon’s Institutional Review Board; and many other public safety related boards and committees.
Paul is a national expert on the development of housing for people with conviction histories and the delivery of evidence-based reentry interventions. Paul holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Oregon and is a trained Inside-Out Prison Exchange instructor.

Rob Bovett (Vice Chair) - Senior Assistant County Counsel, Washington County

Rob Bovett has served as a county lawyer in Oregon for 30 years, currently with Washington County, but previously with the Association of Oregon Counties and Lincoln County, including service as the elected Lincoln County District Attorney. His prior legal experience includes service with legislative counsel and as a judicial clerk. Areas of particular focus include drug policy, constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, election law, home rule and municipal law, and legislative drafting. His career has focused heavily on creating and implementing diversionary programs in the criminal justice system for people suffering from substance abuse or behavioral health issues.

Jessica Beach - Yamhill County Department of Community Justice Director

Jessica Beach received a double Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice and a Master's Degree in Correctional Administration from Western Oregon University. She began her career with the Marion County Sheriff's Office as a Deputy Parole and Probation Officer working primarily with sex offender and high risk special needs caseloads. In 2017, Jessica became the Director of Yamhill County Department of Community Justice, overseeing an Adult Parole and Probation Department, Juvenile Probation Department, 24-bed youth Detention Facility and Pretrial Justice Program as well as Parks and Work Crew Divisions.
Jessica is pleased to have been given a tremendous opportunity to participate in the Evidence Based Decision Making Initiative (EBDMI) technical assistance grant through the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) when Yamhill County was selected as one of seven sites nationwide, commencing local work in Pretrial Justice and SMART Sentencing alternatives.
Jessica is currently the Secretary for the Oregon Association of Community Corrections Directors (OACCD) and the Northwest Regional Director representing eight states on the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) Board. She also represents Oregon on the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Pretrial Executive Network.

Jeff Auxier - Columbia County District Attorney

Jeff Auxier brings over 15 years of prosecutorial experience to Columbia County. Jeff enrolled in Willamette University College of Law in 2003, in pursuit of a career advocating for crime victims as a prosecutor. Never straying from that path, Jeff worked as an intern in the Marion County District Attorney’s Office in Salem for two years before passing the bar and joining the Marion County Domestic Violence Unit as a full-time Deputy District Attorney in 2006.
Two years later, Jeff joined the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, where he worked as a Deputy District Attorney from 2008 to 2017. During his time in Portland, Jeff’s caseload included armed robbery, sexual assault, and murder cases as a member of the office’s gang unit. He finished his career in Portland as the prosecutor assigned to EMGET, the East Multnomah County Gang Enforcement Team.
Even while prosecuting cases in Portland, Jeff was becoming deeply involved in the Columbia County community. He moved out of Portland and bought a home outside of Scappoose in 2013, where he still resides with his wife and two boys. For four years, he quickly became involved in his new community, serving on the boards of SAFE of Columbia County, Columbia County Legal Aid, and the Jail Operations Citizens Advisory Committee.
Jeff was appointed to the vacant District Attorney position in Columbia County in 2017 and was elected to the position the following year. Since becoming DA, he has served as Chair of the Columbia County Local Public Safety Coordinating Committee and was selected by his fellow elected District Attorneys to serve on the State of Oregon Criminal Justice Commission and the Board of Directors of the State of Oregon Department of Public Safety, Standards, and Training.

Tim Freeman

Tim was raised in Oakland, Oregon. He worked as a field mechanic for Don Whitaker Logging to put himself through school at OIT where he studied computer systems engineering technology. He and his wife Angelia have been married for 37 years and have raised their two children in Roseburg. Tim has implemented cost-saving initiatives, managed budgets, and supervised financial planning for County-wide Departmental operations to increase County funds consistently since first term began in 2015. He has insured consistent and reliable in-person County operations without disruption of County services to residents throughout the Pandemic. He is instrumental in preserving & protecting our timber lands, winning two O&C Federal Land Management lawsuits. Currently presides as President of O&C Counties for the 6th year and serves as AOC Tri-Chair Federal Forest Sub-Committee of AOC, Federal Forests Working Group, State Forest & Trust Lands Committee, Western Region Board Member, Governor’s Wildfire Council Mitigation Sub-Committee Co-Founded Oregon Timber Counties Coalition.

Floyd Prozanski - Senator, North Douglas and South Lane Counties

Floyd was first elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1994. He served in the House of Representatives between 1995-2000 and 2003. Floyd was appointed to represent Oregon Senate District 4 in 2003. He was elected in 2004 to complete the current term and reelected in 2006.
Floyd graduated from Texas A&M University and later earned a law degree from the South Texas College of Law. An avid cyclist and home-brewer, he lives in Eugene with his wife. When the Legislature is not in session, Floyd works as a municipal prosecutor and serves on various boards and commissions.

Rick Lewis

Representative Rick Lewis was appointed to House District 18 in February 2017 and is serving his fourth term in the Oregon House of Representatives. Before coming to the legislature, Rep. Lewis was the Mayor and interim City Manager for the City of Silverton. He also served 14 years as Silverton's Police Chief, retiring from law enforcement in 2012. Rep. Lewis is a Life member of the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and served as the organization's President in 1991. He is a life member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and has more than 39 years in law enforcement, including 28 years as a Chief of Police in three Oregon cities.
In 2005, Rep. Lewis took a six month leave of absence as Silverton's Police Chief, to train and supervise the Iraqi Police Executive Leadership Training Program in Baghdad, Iraq, under the U.S. Department of Justice, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has also served on numerous state committees and task forces over the course of his career, including: Chairman of the Oregon Board on Public Safety Standards and Training, the Police Policy Committee and the Oregon Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Board. He has also served as a member of the Oregon Attorney General's Task Force on Deadly Force, Oregon Asset Forfeiture Oversight Advisory Committee, and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Advisory Committee.
Rep. Lewis is a Vietnam Era veteran, having served three years in the United States Army and two years in the Wyoming National Guard. He graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.
Rep. Lewis was appointed to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission in 2022, the Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court's Criminal Justice Advisory Committee in 2023 and continues to serve on the Asset Forfeiture Oversight Advisory Committee and the Oregon Homeland Security Council. He is a current member of the Marion County Public Safety Coordinating Council.
Rep. Lewis is a past recipient of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award, the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Meritorious Achievement Award for his service in Iraq, as well as many other awards throughout his 50+ years in public service. He is past adjutant of the Silverton Delbert Reeves American Legion Post.
Rick and his wife, Pat, have six grown children, a granddaughter, and three grandsons.

Lisa Norton – Chief Administrative Officer of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Elizabeth “Lisa” Norton, MSW, is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, where she resides and works as the Chief Administrative Officer. As the CAO, she wears many hats, including: Law Enforcement Liaison, Broadband Expert, and other special projects Manager. She has almost 20 years’ experience with the Tribe in a variety of capacities. In addition to her experience in Indian Country she has served as Training and Technical Assistance Provider around domestic and sexual violence, been an Executive Director for a community-based advocacy organization, and has a long history of advocating for those she serves. She has served on a variety of boards and committees related to advocacy and justice over her career. Currently, she is on the following committees: Oregon Youth Authority’s Restorative Justice Advisory Committee, Justice Reinvestment Program Grant Review Advisory Committee, and the State-Tribal Public Safety Cluster Her love of her community is matched only by her love of her grandbabies and family.

Carl Macpherson

Carl Macpherson is the Executive Director of Metropolitan Public Defender (MPD), which is the largest, single provider of trial-level public defense services in Oregon. MPD is a non-profit criminal defense law firm founded in 1971. MPD has over one hundred staff attorneys, and over ninety non-attorney support staff. MPD provides representation in all types of criminal, legal, and juvenile matters in both Multnomah County (Portland) and Washington County(Hillsboro). MPD also provides civil legal services through its grant-funded Community Law Division.
Carl has been a criminal defense attorney for over twenty years, practicing in three different jurisdictions. He has been a public defender for his entire career, except for four years when he worked in a criminal defense law firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2007-2011). Carl began his public defender career at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service (PDS) (1998-2001). Carl was then an assistant public defender at the Washtenaw County Public Defender Office in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2001-2007). Carl worked as an attorney for MPD in Washington County handing major felonies (2012-13) and was subsequently assigned to the MPD Capital Crimes Team (2013-15). In November of 2016, the Berrien County (MI) Board of Commissioners hired Carl to create and open the first public defender office for their county, which was the eighth trial-level public defender office in Michigan. In August of 2018, Carl left Berrien County to accept the role of Executive Director of MPD.
Carl is a member of the Tri-Branch Public Defense Work Group, the Chief Justice Advisory Commission Pre-Trial Subcommittee, and Public Defenders of Oregon (PDO).