Matthew Roberts was a compliance officer for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission until 2016, when he was fired for allegedly attacking someone he thought was a minor in possession of alcohol and lying about it to his superiors.
Although the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, or DPSST, documented Roberts’ firing, Southern Oregon University did not have that information when he was hired as a special campus security officer two years later.
Roberts and other people with red flags in DPSST files slipped through a loophole in Oregon law created in 2015 that makes hiring special campus security officers a case of good cop, bad cop and who-knows cop.
State Rep. Zach Hudson, D-Troutdale, wants to close this loophole with House Bill 2551 in this legislative session. The bill was passed unanimously by the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on Feb. 20 and had its first reading on the Senate floor on March 6.
No other committee meetings or floor sessions have been scheduled.
The issue came to light after correspondent Sam Becker’s June 26, 2024 and Jan. 22, 2025 stories in Street Roots. University officials used to conduct background checks through DPSST when hiring special campus security officers. That ended in 2015 when state lawmakers rearranged the Oregon University System.
Hudson told the higher education committee during a public hearing on the bill on Feb. 4 that the DPSST background check system was an unintentional casualty.
“It just sort of disappeared in the mix,” he said.
Southern Oregon University’s director of government relations Mark Overbeck acknowledged the role Street Roots played during the hearing. He called the legislation “a thoughtful approach that ensures that public universities have full access to background information when making critical hiring decisions.”
House Bill 2551 directs public university officials to request and review background checks from DPSST before hiring special campus security officers. Such officers differ from regular campus police — sworn law-enforcement officers — or campus security officers.
While special campus security officers can’t carry firearms or stop and frisk people, they can arrest suspects when given probable cause.
“The fact that they can make citations and arrests is what sets them apart from what you might think of as regular security,” Hudson said at the hearing. “With that expanded capability, universities should have as much information as possible about a candidate.”
The bill does not forbid universities from hiring candidates with questionable histories. Overbeck told committee members he liked that provision.
“It strikes an important balance between ensuring campus safety while recognizing the potential for personal growth and redemption,” he said.
Southern Oregon University’s student government has made campus safety a key focus this legislative session.
“We stand aligned with them in ensuring a safe environment for everyone who is part of our campus community,” Overbeck said. “This bill supports transparent action in hiring decisions. It allows universities to be informed by all relevant background information that may bear on a candidate’s suitability to hold the responsibility necessary for campus safety personnel.”
An amendment to the bill requires the university’s human resource office to review the background information rather than the university board itself.
“This change ensures that our boards are not asked to micro-manage decisions that are appropriately in the hands of the office best equipped to handle such sensitive information,” Overbeck told lawmakers.
The bill seems to enjoy broad bipartisan support. David Wall of Newberg, a conservative activist who submits written testimony on dozens of bills, endorsed the legislation. He just said that it doesn’t go quite far enough.
“I would also suggest the submission of a DNA sample be obtained,” he wrote in his testimony. “The results of the DNA analysis should be added to the nation’s DNA database and checked to see if there is any flag for criminal activity before the hiring process is complete.”
The bill addresses the threat “wandering officers” pose to universities, according to submitted testimony from Victor Reyes, American Association of University Professors Oregon chapter executive director.
“This common-sense piece of legislation will give the peace of mind that Oregon’s university students, staff, faculty and their families deserve to have should they ever be in an emergency situation that requires the presence of campus security,” he wrote.
Hudson, who chairs the higher education committee, said the bill is not trying to tell universities what to do and whom to hire but “just to give them the best possible picture of a candidate’s previous history so they can make a decision with better information.”
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2024 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext.
This article appears in March 19, 2025.