An increasingly active local group of demonstrators gathered in front of the Lewis County Courthouse on Tuesday morning before heading inside to demand the county government bring an end to a legal battle over an ordinance regulating syringe exchanges in the county.
Members of Rural Lewis County Indivisibles arrived at the Lewis County Courthouse at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning, hoisting up a large mesh sign reading “to be free we must be brave” and waiving smaller signs calling for the repeal of Lewis County Ordinance 1354.
That ordinance, enacted in spring of 2024, created restrictions on harm reduction program operations in the county, including banning mobile syringe exchange operations.
The group of sign wavers went inside just before the Board of Lewis County Commissioners meeting at 10 a.m. to give public comment. There, they met opposition from local Republicans who looked to defend the ordinance and its goals. They also met a likely unexpected action from the board of commissioners, who now appear to be moving toward repeal of the local law and a conclusion to its legal battle against Centralia-based Gather Church over the 2024 harm reduction ordinance.
Taking the wind out of the sails of many in the hearing room who wished to give public comment, the Lewis County Board of Commissioners entered into a 17-minute executive session immediately after convening the Tuesday morning meeting. After exiting, Lewis County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor David Bailey brought two motions for the commissioners to vote on.
With one motion, Bailey asked for the commissioners to approve settlement authority for the Gather Church lawsuit, but provided no additional information about the state of the case. An additional motion by Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer called for county staff to announce a notice for hearing for a new ordinance.
According to an agenda for a county commissioners meeting the following day, the new ordinance — Ordinance 1372 — would repeal Ordinance 1354 and Lewis County Code Chapter 8.80, effectively getting rid of the county’s restrictions on harm reduction and syringe exchange. That, however, was not clear during the meeting as the commissioners did not describe what the new ordinance would do.
The change in direction comes after Gather Church earned a temporary win in its legal battle with the county. On the last day of 2025, a federal court ruled that Gather Church could resume the operation of its mobile needle exchange and that the Lewis County ordinance regulating the service will be null and void for the time being.
The injunctive relief will effectively allow the church to resume the operation of its mobile harm reduction program for the foreseeable future as the parties continue on with the lawsuit.
Two Rural Lewis County Indivisibles members, Daniel Meekhof and Centralia City Councilor Ray Chapman-Wilson, still testified against the ordinance and called for its repeal. The two advocated for the work done by the county’s primary harm reduction provider, Gather Church, and referred to the continued legal battle as a waste of county funds. A third community member testified more generally in favor of the harm reduction work done by Gather Church.
“Continuing to fight the lawsuit costs the county money,” Meekhof said. “If by chance the county wins the lawsuit, more people with drug addictions will die from preventable diseases and the Gather Church will reach fewer people in need. I believe our county commissioners should repeal Ordinance 1354 and stop wasting county money fighting a program that is saving lives.”
Four people testified in defense of the county ordinance and its continued legal battle. Two leaders of the Lewis County Republican Party, Greg and Elizabeth Rohr, testified along with fellow community members David de la Vega and Dawn Miles.
Those four voiced their support for the existing restrictions on harm reduction and syringe exchanges, including the ban of mobile operations. The supporters commended the commissioners for defending the values of many county residents, highlighting accountability, structure and guidance for those who face addiction in the county. They also linked the ordinance to a first step in addressing issues with dirty and littered needles in public areas around the county.
“Needle exchanges and enabling people to continue to use drugs, especially in public where our children play, that is wrong,” Miles said.
Members of the group also brought a religious argument to the table and aired frustration that the Gather Church lawsuit invoked religious freedom as part of its defense of its harm reduction activities.
“By providing syringes to addicts, we are leading them away from repentance, healing and restoration,” de la Vega said. “The very contradiction of love.”
While the path is not crystal clear, it appears likely that the county is now on the path toward repealing its restrictions on harm reduction and needle exchanges nearly two years after first enacting them.
Ordinance 1354 commissioned county codes restricting the operation of harm reduction operations in the county, like the mobile syringe exchange operated by Gather Church. The ordinance faced some opposition from local harm reduction advocates at the time, but passed in a 2-1 vote. Commissioners Sean Swope and Brummer supported the bill while Commissioner Lindsey Pollock voted against it and advocated for her own milder version of the ordinance.
At the time, Gather Church representatives urged the county not to enact the ordinance, threatening legal action if the county moved forward. More than a year after the passage of the ordinance, Gather Church filed a lawsuit in October with legal representation from the American Civil Liberties Union.
For additional reporting and information on the active lawsuit, visit https://tinyurl.com/54a5n439.
