Oregon Court Records

Oregon Court Record Lookup

Oregon OR court records are public documents and decrees created by Oregon’s public authorities -- elected and appointed officials with legal jurisdiction. Court records that award financial judgments, concern family unity, punish criminals, or order a business to cease some action, are public documents available to anyone by performing Oregon court records search. You can also use Oregon criminal records and other public records in RecordsFinder.com to get complete information.

Courts of limited jurisdiction

County courts have jurisdiction over juvenile (delinquency, emancipation) and probate matters (wills, trusts, estates, guardianships).

There are 32 justice courts in the state. These courts are responsible within their counties for criminal prosecutions, small claims up to $5,000 and traffic matters. 

Municipal courts hold hearings for violations of municipal ordinances and misdemeanors.

Tax court is concerned with tax rate appeals, property tax laws, and the like. Appeals originating in this court are heard by the state supreme court.

Legal issues arising on sovereign Native American lands are subject to tribal courts.

Trial courts

Circuit courts have general jurisdiction over civil trials, such as Oregon child support and custody cases, and criminal trials and are arranged in 27 districts. Confidentiality laws may restrict certain records from public access, particularly those of juvenile cases or that name victims of certain crimes.

Statewide there were over 716,000 cases filed in these Oregon courthouses in a recent year. Of those, 54,000 were small claims, 199,000 were categorized as “violations” and over 236,000 categorized as “Multnomah parking.”

Appeals courts

The interim court of appeals hears all disputed decisions from lower courts except for tax court and death sentence cases, which can be accessed via Oregon court case lookup.

The state supreme court sits at the top of the Oregon judiciary. Supreme courts generally take automatic appeals of death sentences, issues concerning the state bar, questions of constitutionality of laws, and hear selected cases from lower courts.

U.S. District courts

Each state has at least one federal court that has jurisdiction over violations of federal law, multi-state lawsuits, bankruptcies, and class action lawsuits. Anyone can view Oregon court records online via conducting Oregon court record lookup.

Oregon Notable Court Cases

Quite the opposite of many recent copyright cases in the media, an Oregon judge dismissed charges against a man for illegally downloading the movie "'The Cobbler." Although the IP address was traced back to the defendant, the judge determined this didn't necessarily mean he was the one who obtained the pirated material, mainly because he runs a foster home for adults and a visitor or family member may have downloaded it.