Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice
Incumbent Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice is apparently so insecure about his prospects of being reelected, he has ordered county employees and local business owners to remove the campaign signs of his political opponent in the November 3, 2026, election, Steve Hammerson.
Boice’s actions are a direct violation of ORS 162.415, prohibits any official from using their authority to remove (or orders county employees to execute the removal of) a campaign sign, for which they can be prosecuted for official misconduct, abuse of power, and/or theft of services, for using taxpayer-funded resources for personal political gain.
On September 21, 2026, according to a notarized witness statement, a local voter entered O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store at 910 NW Garden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg and witnessed the owner removing Steve Hammerson’s campaign signs.
According to the owner, Boice threatened him, stating that O’Reilly’s would lose business from the county if they failed to remove all of Hammerson’s campaign signs.
Douglas County public records confirm that the county actively does business with O’Reilly Auto Parts, primarily through established government purchasing contracts.
A September 22, 2026, video shows a Douglas County employee deliberately removing Steve Hammerson’s campaign signs while leaving Chris Boice’s campaign signs in place.
But in some instances, Hammerson’s campaign signs were removed and replaced with Boice’s campaign signs.
Oregon’s law regulating temporary campaign roadway signs are quite specific. They state unequivocally that it is highly illegal for a county official to selectively remove an opponent’s political sign while leaving their own in place.
Although Oregon law prohibits it, Chris Boice’s campaign signs are currently displayed on county owned property.
Boice’s flagrant abuse of his authority to advance his personal political agenda clearly violates the law.
But as of this writing, neither the Roseburg Police nor the Douglas County Sheriff have taken any action to prosecute Boice.
Sources close to the Douglas County Sheriff’s office report that there have been numerous domestic violence calls to 225 Dawson Road in Roseburg—the residence of Chris Boice.
But as of this writing, it appears that neither the Roseburg Police nor the Douglas County Sheriff have charged him. Meanwhile, Boice raises funds for the local battered women’s shelter Peace at Home.
Boice has become increasingly unpopular with county voters since he pushed through a dump fee waiver for multi-millionaire campaign donor Bruce Hanna, as reported in the March 30, 2019, issue of the Roseburg News-Review.
Despite the sign posted at all ten county solid waste transfer stations prohibiting more than one cubic foot of “construction/demolition waste,” Hanna was allowed to dump 1,069 tons of construction debris in the county’s only landfill, free of charge.
This resulted in a toxic leachate debacle that has cost the county taxpayers nearly $10 million, while simultaneously depriving the county of hundreds of thousands of dollars in dump fees.
During the 2022 Douglas County Commissioner election campaign, Boice and his daughter were videotaped removing his opponent’s roadside campaign signs—as well as the campaign signs of the opponents of county commissioner candidates Tom Kress, and Tim “No Term Limits” Freeman.
Boice was caught red-handed when Roseburg police officers found the stolen campaign signs of Boice’s opponent in the back of Boice’s personal vehicle.
Readers are encouraged to listen to the recording of Chris Boice freely admitting that he was the perpetrator of this crime.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2016459609056384
But Boice ingenuously asserted that he removed the signs because he was asked to do so by the owners of the property where his opponent’s campaign signs were displayed.
Even if Boice’s duplicitous statements were true, Oregon law clearly states that a landowner is allowed to remove any sign on his own property, but a candidate in the election cannot remove an opposing candidate’s sign.
Like other elected officials who represent Douglas County, Chris Boice apparently has little regard for the law.
Boice is already embroiled in an election fraud lawsuit (case #25CV37488) brought against County Clerk Dan Loomis for the May 20, 2025, Douglas County Special Election, in which plaintiff Todd Vaughn, ran for reelection as position #4 Director of the Umpqua Public Transportation District board.
This lawsuit is so radioactive, every judge in Douglas County recused themselves from the case—and with good reason.
At the January 30, 2026, hearing, plaintiff’s attorney Stephen Joncus revealed damning evidence of ballot mishandling, citing 286 ballots that had been cast and received but were never counted—apparently enough to possibly change the election outcome.
Joncus also explained that approximately 100 ballots from the same election were mailed to addresses that do not exist—and yet they were somehow received and counted.
Although the county already retains attorney Tiffany Podlesnik as county counsel, the commissioners hired John A. DiLorenzo, Jr., a $1,500 an hour Portland, Oregon, attorney who specializes in government relations and elections to represent Loomis in this lawsuit.
In response to this lawsuit, Chris Boice and his fellow commissioners embarked on a conspicuously sudden renovation of the elections office in the Douglas County Courthouse, replacing all the windows with bullet-proof glass.
One cannot help but wonder, why do they need bulletproof glass in an election office, in a state where everyone votes by mail?
The county elections office was stripped of all its contents, including ballot evidence, which was reportedly removed and relocated.
But these election office renovations were not made public, not even in the News-Review, the local newspaper that serves as the county commissioner’s propaganda tool.
The News-Review is owned by commissioner Chris Boice’s longtime business partner, Patrick Markham.
But Boice has gotten himself in so much hot water, allowing millionaires to have free dump privileges that created a $10 million landfill toxic leachate emergency, perpetrating apparent tax fraud, and getting himself embroiled in too many lawsuits, Markham took the legal precaution of dissolving their partnership in July 2025, one month after the lawsuit was filed.
Boice and his fellow commissioners have repeatedly voted to raise their own salaries by more than $50,000, making them among the highest paid county commissioners in Oregon, in one of the poorest counties in the state.
County employees use words like “thug” and “bully” to described Boice; one said he is “not well spoken.”
It’s worth remembering that the job of county commissioner is a financial planning and business management position. Voters expect commissioners will spend the taxpayers’ dollars wisely and responsibly.
The department heads who work for the county must have college degrees, but no grade point average, intelligence test, examine, or degree is required to become a county commissioner.
Boice’s personal finances raise big red flags as well, suggesting that he is lining his own pockets with county taxpayer dollars.
Boice filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2000.
In 2011, he refinanced his Roseburg residence, taking more than $100,000 in equity out of the property before ultimately foreclosing. While bankruptcies of this kind usually take a year, miraculously, Boice’s bankruptcy was inexplicably completed in less than four months.
Yet despite the bankruptcy and the foreclosure, Boice conspicuously spent a collective $2 million purchasing four different real estate parcels totaling nearly 95 acres, and all transacted on the same day, July 30, 2019:
Parcel R42564, 13.78 acres at a cost of $750,000.
Parcel R109595, 38.57 acres at a cost of $250,000.
Parcel R68746, 41.34 acres at a cost of $250,000.
Parcel R42548, 0.7 acres at a cost of $750,000.
Boice also bought a new $100,000 silver Porche Cayenne and a $600,000 airplane, posting photos of his pricey acquisitions on his Facebook page on May 26, 2023.
But Boice’s position of Douglas County commissioner only pays $130,000 a year. So, where did he suddenly get millions of dollars?
That is to say, how can he afford airplane hangar rental and aircraft maintenance fees? How did he pay for his Dodge Ram 350 and a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited—both with “Boice” vanity license plates?
Some allege that Boice inappropriately diverted public funds in a quid pro quo deal that allowed him to launder taxpayer dollars before putting them in his pocket.
Others believe Bruce Hanna, or one of Boice’s other wealthy campaign donors, funneled money to Boice through one of their many nonprofit organizations, as a prepayment for favors yet uncollected.
If you ask Chris Boice about the gypsum in the landfill, he will gaslight you, telling you to stop believing “urban legends” and “conspiracy theories.” It’s his usual tactic to avoid accountability—he plays the victim when he’s actually the perpetrator.
The hard-working taxpayers of Douglas County have apparently been robbed by Chris Boice, an elected official.
They are left paying the $10 million bill for his reckless disregard for fiscal responsibility and public safety, in his gross mismanagement of the county landfill.
Chris Boice has likely served his last term.
His opponent Steve Hammerson has vowed to support term limits and cut commissioner’s salaries (which Boice opposes) and to weed out the corruption so emblematic of Chris Boice’s tenure.
Readers are encouraged to register to vote and to deposit their ballot in a county drop-box, rather than sending it through the U.S. mail.
