Mark Laucks

Alfalfa Fire District officials acknowledged Wednesday night they still do not have access to critical banking records needed to determine what happened to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grant funding, while new questions emerged over former Fire Chief Chad LaVallee's continuing role with the district more than two months after his resignation.

The wife of Alfalfa Fire District Acting Board President Mark Laucks launched into a lengthy social media attack against critics of the embattled fire district this week, blaming residents raising concerns about its operations for the loss of emergency services and making several claims about Wednesday’s board meeting that do not appear to have actually happened.

The Alfalfa Fire District Board publicly questioned its own actions during a recent meeting after board members appeared unable to recall a vote taken just weeks earlier to delay appointments to two vacant board seats

The Alfalfa Fire District Board of Directors adopted the district's 2026-27 budget on June 30th, following a Budget Committee meeting one week earlier in which a committee member raised concerns that the proposal may not comply with Oregon's Local Budget Law

For months, the Prineville Review has been engaged in ongoing investigative reporting into the Alfalfa Fire District—most recently revealing a state investigation into alleged election law violations tied to the District, as well as documenting repeated and ongoing failures to comply with Oregon’s public meetings laws.