About Us

By ORS 3.012, the circuit court is authorized 38 judges for the 2007-2009 Biennium. The court is also served by 12.5 referee positions. Some referees sit, by appointment from the Oregon Supreme Court, as judges pro tempore of the circuit court. The circuit court is also served by senior judges and several members of the local bar who serve as volunteer judges pro tempore (for whose assistance the court is always grateful).
The Chief Justice is required by law, ORS 1.003, to appoint the presiding judges of the judicial districts every two years. The Hon. Jean Kerr Maurer is appointed by the Chief Justice to be the Presiding Judge through December 31, 2009.
The circuit court is a division of the Oregon Judicial Department. The Oregon Judicial Department is the third branch of Oregon’s state government by Article III, Section 1, Oregon Constitution. Since 1983, all funding of the Oregon Judicial Department, including the circuit court’s, has been the obligation of the state, except for the funding of circuit court facilities. ORS 1.001. Circuit court facility funding is an obligation of county government. ORS 1.185.
The circuit court is a court of general jurisdiction. By statute, ORS 3.136, the circuit court is the municipal court for the City of Portland. The circuit court also serves as the municipal court for the City of Gresham and other municipal governments in Multnomah County, with the exceptions of the City of Troutdale and the City of Fairview.
2009 - 2013 Oregon Judicial Department Strategic Plan (pdf 669 KB)

Judicial Assignments and Responsibility
As provided by ORS 1.003, the Chief Justice appoints a Presiding Judge. Under ORS 1.171 the Presiding Judge has the following Powers and Responsibilities (pdf 217 KB)
The Presiding Judge has retained direct case management and trial assignment responsibility for civil actions and trial assignment responsibility for felony level criminal cases. The Presiding Judge has delegated to other judges, by appointment, case management responsibility in the following areas:

Criminal Law Matters (including Criminal Procedure Court)
Hon. Julie E. Frantz, Chief Criminal Judge

Family Law, Juvenile & Probate Matters (The Family Court)
Hon. Nan Waller, Chief Family Court Judge and
Hon. Katherine Tennyson to preside as Chief Probate Judge.

Office of the Presiding Judge
There are four staff positions assigned directly to the Presiding Judge: the Judge’s judicial assistant maintains the Judge’s calendar and handles the scheduling of any conferences before the presiding judge; the calendaring secretary handles trial docket assignment and scheduling; the two presiding court clerks handle the administrative paperwork processed through the Presiding Judge’s office, including default orders and judgments, staff the courtroom during proceedings, and answer questions about presiding court procedures for the members of the Bar and public.

Oregon Judicial Conference Standards for Timely Disposition
The circuit court manages pre-judgment actions to meet the Standards for Timely Disposition adopted by the Oregon Judicial Conference. The Oregon Judicial Conference is a plenary body of all state judges. The standards adopted by the Judicial Conference apply to all circuit courts, and have been in effect since 1990. When requesting a postponement of any proceeding, bear in mind that the court’s obligation is to meet these standards. To do so, it monitors constantly the age of pending cases, and parties should be able to rely on these time lines for the disposition of filed actions.
Standards for timely disposition (pdf 220 KB)

Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN)
All circuit courts in Oregon maintain the register (ORS 7.020) and the judgment lien record (ORS 18.075) on the Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN). All filed documents, orders and judgments are entered into OJIN; usually entry is within five days of filing of the document with the clerk of the court. Once a document, order or judgment is filed and entered, it is then placed in the physical file of the case. Most court proceedings are scheduled in OJIN.
Public access to on-line OJIN is available currently only to subscribers through the Information Systems Division, Office of the State Court Administrator, in Salem. Public access is limited to case registers which are not by statute confidential. Obtaining OJIN access in your office is recommended since it permits you to monitor the status of all cases not made confidential by law. Access may be obtained by calling OJIN OnLine at 1.800.858.9658 or by e-mail at ojin.online@state.or.us.

Statistical Information About Case Filings and Dispositions
The official court data is found in reports at the following location on the Oregon Judicial Department’s web page Statistics and Other ReportsThere is also a site for unofficial data on the work of the circuit court. This site displays data taken from the Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN) each month, but it is not drawn at the same time as the data used in the official reports published by the Office of the State Court Administrator. It should not be cited as official data. This site does provide monthly data on the filings and dispositions of the circuit court, however, and for those who want an use the site as a interim data source until the official reports are available it is available. Just remember, these are not the official results from operations. That data is only available from the site indicated above.
Multnomah County Circuit Court Unofficial Data

Video Capability in Downtown Courthouse
The court has installed updated video technology which enables the use of live video in every courtroom in the courthouse. The system is compatible with most other video conferencing systems. With this system, the capability of running two such systems at the same time is available. Contact the court’s technical staff at 503.988.5416 to learn more about the availability of the system, its capability, and scheduling equipment for a hearing or trial.

Procedure to Request Interpreter for Circuit Court Hearings
If you need an interpreter for an in-court proceeding to interpret hearing testimony for a non-English speaking or hearing impaired party or for interpreting testimony into English for the court and the record, call Interpreter Services at 503.988.3515. Please give the office at least four business days notice whenever possible. UTCR 7.060 (sign interpreters for the hearing impaired) and 7.070 (language interpreters). The more notice the office has, the more probability of securing the services of an interpreter. Requests made with less than the required four days’ notice run the risk of the hearing being delayed due to the unavailability of an interpreter on such short notice.
If you have made arrangements for an interpreter for a trial or hearing and the case is set over or settled, before the hearing, please notify Interpreter Services as soon as possible so the interpreter can be canceled or reassigned. If a case is continued, and the new date is set in open court, it is still the attorney’s responsibility to inform Interpreter Services of the new date. Do not expect the interpreter to convey the message or to be assigned to the next hearing. Interpreter Services won’t schedule an interpreter until there is notice from the attorney’s office that an interpreter is needed for a future hearing.
If you have any questions, please call Interpreter Services at 503. 988.3515 or send an email to MUL.Interpreter.Services@ojd.state.or.us. See also ORS 45.272 to 45.297.

Reporting Proceedings
The circuit court has only one trial department served by a stenographic reporter. Judge Janice Wilson continues to have stenographic, real time, reporters in her trial department. All other trial departments and proceedings are served by electronic recording for the report of the proceedings.
In every other courtroom, there is installed an audio, digital recording system. This new, computer based audio system is the reporting system now used by the judges in trial departments in the Multnomah County Courthouse and it is the backup system in Judge Wilson’s courtroom. The digital system is used also in the other court facilities. The presiding judge’s courtroom uses a video digital recording system to record all call and ex parte proceedings.

Where to Call for Information
The case management policies shaped by the Presiding Judge, or the judges assigned to the various chief judge positions, are given effect by the Office of the Trial Court Administrator and its staff. Often questions regarding usual practices before the Court can be answered by a phone call to the appropriate section of the Presiding Judge’s Office or the Court Administrator's Office. During the current budgetary conditions, phone hours are less than business hours for operations divisions including the circuit court file room. These hours are subject to change as the circuit court is required to cut staff positions to comply with declining funding for its daily operations.
The following list of sections and numbers may be helpful in securing information (pdf 270 KB)
Court business hours (pdf 18 KB)
Holidays on which the court will be closed (pdf 217 KB)

The goal of the Office of the Trial Court Administrator is to provide service, within the limits of its resources, to the members of the court, the bar and the public. If you wish to discuss any matter regarding the level of services provided, please call the Court Administrator at 503.988.3957.

Locations for Circuit Court Proceedings
The circuit court serves the people of Multnomah County from four locations: Juvenile Justice Center, the Gresham Branch, the adult Justice Center, and the main courthouse in downtown Portland.

The mailing address for the downtown courthouse is:

Multnomah County Courthouse 1021 SW Fourth Avenue Portland, OR 97204-1123 General Information Phone:   503.988.3957

Addresses for other court locations are as follows:

Justice Center Third Floor 1120 SW Third Avenue Portland, Oregon** General Information Phone:   503.988.3641
Juvenile Justice Center 1401 NE 68th Street Portland, OR 97213 General Information Phone:   503.988.3022	Gresham Justice Center 150 W Powell Blvd Gresham, OR 97030 General Information Phone:   503.988.3199

**Mail for judges or referees assigned to these facilities should not be sent to the address for the facility, but rather to the main courthouse.

Most civil, criminal and domestic relations actions are heard in the downtown courthouse, located at 1021 SW Fourth Avenue. The downtown courthouse was built in stages between 1911 and 1914 as the seat of county government.
A 1991 study of the courthouse had this to say about the structure (pdf 218 KB)

CourtCare
Instead of witnessing adult conflict, hearing harsh words and seeing potentially disturbing scenes, small children, age 6 weeks to 5 years, can play in safe and supportive environment of CourtCare.
CourtCare is available at no cost to parents who are doing business in the Multnomah County Courthouse, Justice Center, and Dispute Resolution Department in the Portland Building. Open from 8:30am to 4:30pm, located on the second floor of the Multnomah County Courthouse, CourtCare is operated with the nurturing and developmentally appropriate care provided by the Volunteers of America Oregon CourtCare staff.
Parents, please note:
Children are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. You must remain in the designated building(s) while your child is in care and you will need to pick up your child during your lunch break, as lunch is not provided.
For more information and availability, please contact:
Cynthean Swanson
CourtCare Program Coordinator
Phone: 503.988.4334
Email: cswanson@voaor.org

More than 1,000 people give money to support CourtCare. If you would like to be one of them and/or to learn more about CourtCare, please contact:
Multnomah Bar Foundation
Phone: 503.222.3275
http://www.mbabar.org/