Deschutes County’s parole and probation officers make up one of the smaller unions in county government, representing only 19 people. Its members showed a collective pragmatic streak in their recent decision to ask county commissioners to simply extend their work contract for another year.

Parole and probation officers are county employees, though much of the money that finances their work comes from the state of Oregon. In fact, the county picks up only a tiny part of the cost of supervising men and women on parole from prison or probation from state courts. Funding is determined by a formula that is calculated based on how many people the officers in a given county must keep track of.

That funding is down, thanks to the state’s years-long financial difficulties. Changes in state law passed in 2009 mean parole and probation officers are supervising some people for shorter periods of time, which means less money is going to Deschutes and other counties to pay officers’ salaries and benefits. Those cost-saving cuts to supervised parole and probation time were also extended for an additional two years by the 2011 Legislature. The Legislature didn’t just single out cuts to parole and probation. Funding for Oregon’s public safety and judicial programs was down 6.4 percent from the Legislature’s 2009-2011 budget to $2.4 billion.

That situation is not likely to change anytime soon. Lawmakers ended the 2011 legislative session assuming both revenue increases and budget savings that are tentative. Already, in fact, the state’s revenue forecast for the coming year is lower than it was when the Legislature went home in June.

The county’s parole and probation officers know all that as well as anyone, and decided to take a distinct approach to contract negotiations this year. In addition to asking the county to extend their current contract, they are forgoing a cost-of-living increase.

Commissioners approved the extension and praised the employees on Wednesday morning. Parole and probation officers have demonstrated they want to protect both public safety and public spending.