Umatilla County
Located in the northeastern region of Oregon, Umatilla County was created in 1862 and was named after the Umatilla River. Its vast land area of over 3,200 square miles is inhabited by about 80,000 people. Hermiston is its largest city, while Pendleton is its county seat. The legal needs of the people of Umatilla County are served by Circuit, Justice, and Municipal Courts.
The Umatilla County Circuit Court in Hermiston and Pendleton hears all civil cases and major criminal cases. It handles traffic and municipal ordinance violations in municipalities without municipal courts. In addition, it hears family law and probate cases, including divorce, legal separation, adoption, annulment, paternity, emancipation, commitment of minors to mental institutions, truancy, juvenile delinquency, appointment of guardianship, admission of wills, and administration of estates and trusts.
The Echo Justice Court is the only Justice Court in Umatilla County. It hears motor vehicle offenses, traffic infractions, city ordinance violations, and civil cases with less than $10,000 in claims. The eight municipal courts in Umatilla County hear municipal code violations and traffic offenses within their boundaries. They are located in Umatilla, Stanfield, Pilot Rock, Pendleton, Milton-Freewater, Hermiston, Athena, and Echo.
In Umatilla County, warrants, court filings, court schedules, writs, transcripts, court rulings, motions, and other case information are documented as public court records, provided they are not sealed by law or court orders. Court clerks arrange, index, sort, present, and store court records in compliance with state regulations.
The following types of court records are available to the public in Umatilla County unless they are sealed by court orders:
- Criminal court Records
- Traffic court Records
- Probate court Records
- Civil court Records
- Family Law court Records
Record seekers can search for nonconfidential court records from the Umatilla County Circuit Court on the Oregon Judicial Department - Online Records Search portal. They must select Umatilla County from the list of counties to limit the search to only public court records from the county.
They can also visit the courts and use the kiosk computers to view public court records from the county courts. In addition, they can complete and submit the Records Request Form to request records at the court counter at no cost.
