Sheriff plans to leave U.S. after retiring

Embattled Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp says he plans to accept a consulting position outside the U.S. after he retires within next 90 days

Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp and wife Rachel in front of their new vacation home in Bonaire, a Caribbean municipality off the coast of Venezuela, in an April 13 Facebook post.

Embattled Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp expects to retire within the next 90 days, then accept a consulting position outside the United States, he told Oregon Roundup in emails yesterday.

A committee of Oregon’s law enforceement licensing board voted unanimously to recommend a lifetime law enforcement ban on van der Kamp arising from his alleged misrepresentation to the board about his prior termination by the La Mesa, California police department in the 1990s, and more recent false testimony in Oregon inflating his education credentials, according to OPB. The full board is scheduled to vote whether to revoke his law enforcement credentials in July.

Since the committee vote, a number of van der Kamp’s fellow local elected officials called for him to step down, including all three county commissioners, have called on him to step down. Two of the county commissioners, Phil Chang (D) and Patti Adair (R), had endorsed van der Kamp in the election he won handily less than eight months ago.

Van der Kamp wrote Oregon Roundup, in response to questions regarding a recent real estate listing showing him as the listing broker, “For the record, I haven't listed real estate in some time, nor is it part of my retirement plan. I focus on wrapping up my work here before accepting a consulting position outside the real estate finance sector and the US.”

He declined to provide details about what country he plans to work in post-retirement:

Unfortunately, I am unwilling to provide personal details about my post-DCSO retirement as I am still finalizing details with clients and my family. I do, however, expect to make the transition within the next 90 days. I am working with the county administration to arrange a smooth transition so that they can proceed with their appointment plans.

Deschutes County Commissioners would appoint a replacement Sheriff in the event of a vacancy.

An April 13 Facebook post for a page called “Casa Vigorosa Bonaire” welcomes visitors to “Casa Vigorosa by Kent and Rachel van der Kamp . . . our new vacation home in Bonaire.” Bonaire, a municipality of the Netherlands, is a small island in the southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela. Rachel is Kent van der Kamp’s wife.

So far, van der Kamp faces no criminal charges related to his alleged misrepresentations to the state law enforcement board or alleged false sworn testimony.

Oregon Roundup originally emailed van der Kamp yesterday morning for comment on his listing for sale of a property owned by Deschutes County Sheriff Deputy Keegen Hlad. Van der Kamp has long been a licensed real estate broker and mortgage broker while holding down full time law enforcement jobs as sergeant and now Sheriff.

Van der Kamp responded, “Mr. Hlad did approach my company to represent him in the sale of his home. However, Jill Armstrong will be handling the listing. She's out of town for the holiday weekend and will return Tuesday to take over the listing while I transition into retirement.”

Armstrong’s Realtor.com profile says she works for Eagle Equity Services. The real estate licensing board’s website shows Armstrong’s broker license is inactive.

Van der Kamp owns and is president of Oracle Funding Corp., which also does business under the name Eagle Equity Services. His work as a broker, particularly when that work is on behalf of Sheriff Office employees who are now his subordinates, came under scrutiny during last year’s campaign.

During a February 2024 candidate forum, van der Kamp said there would be no conflict of interest in the event Oracle provided services for Sheriff Office employees, because he would hand those matters off to his employees at Oracle. He added that he did not work on Oracle business while on duty for the Sheriff Office other than checking emails on his lunch break. (Video beginning at 23:15).

In a since-deleted June 27, 2024, post on his campaign website, van der Kamp wrote, “I have decided to suspend new origination operations at Oracle Funding Corp to focus fully on a new chapter as your Deschutes County Sheriff . . . This decision allows me to give my undivided attention to the campaign, the Sheriff's Office, and, most importantly, the employees of the Sheriff's Office.”

In an email to Oregon Roundup, van der Kamp offered, in the past tense, his view on his brief tenure as Sheriff:

I was honored to lead a cultural shift at the Sheriff’s Office—ending patterns of retaliation, reducing exposure to lawsuits, transparent hiring, and promotional processes, streamlining operations to protect taxpayer money with a contemporary budget, and most importantly, rebuilding vital partnerships with other county departments, public safety agencies, and community organizations.

I delivered a thoughtful, balanced 25-26 budget to the County Budget Committee that was swiftly approved with a congratulatory message from both the BOCC and the Budget Committee. My team collaborated with county finance staff for the first time in many years to understand the resources we had to work with, as well as the commitments and required expenditures of the Sheriff’s Office. I am confident the leadership team I built this year will continue with this progress.

I was a paid consultant for the campaign of Sheriff van der Kamp’s 2024 opponent, William Bailey. That client relationship terminated election day, 2024. — Jeff Eager