Oregon Circuit Court Information

Until January of 1998, the State of Oregon had a limited jurisdiction district court where less serious civil and criminal trial cases were heard. However. on January 15, 1998, this district court was amalgamated with the circuit courts and the present Oregon circuit court system took shape. The circuit courts of Oregon are trial courts with general jurisdiction. For each of Oregon’s counties there is a circuit court to hear civil and criminal cases of a less serious nature. Thus there are 36 Oregon circuit courts functioning in the state.

Oregon Circuit Courts: Locations

In most cases, the county courthouse serves as the location of the circuit court of that particular county. Some circuit courts of Oregon have multiple locations within the county as well. You can access the directory of the circuit court locations and contact numbers at http://www.ojd.state.or.us/sca/ojdrefdir.nsf/Trial%2BCourt%2BLocations?OpenView. You can visit any of the court locations if you wish to access information in regard to the cases filed in that particular circuit court.

Oregon Circuit Courts: Websites and Calendar

If you have any queries about a particular circuit court but are unable to visit the court location, you can access their website for the information. Most of the circuit courts have their own website. However for those that do not have a website of their own, the Oregon Judicial Department provides a contact page. You can find the list of websites for the Oregon Circuit Courts in a drop down box on the left side of the http://www.ojd.state.or.us/courts/circuit/index.htm webpage. There is also a drop down box for the court calendar of each circuit court.

Oregon Circuit Courts: Jurisdiction

The types of cases handled by the Oregon circuit courts are as follows:

·    Exclusive domestic relations cases (with the exception of adoption related cases)
·    Juvenile cases (parental rights exclusive termination)
·    Civil cases like exclusive tort, probate or estate, contract, civil appeals, real property
·    Small claims cases (maximum limit $5,000)
·    Cases related to mental health
·    Traffic or such other violations cases
·    Exclusive misdemeanor and felony cases (of a less serious nature)

Oregon Circuit Courts Judges

There are 27 judicial districts in Oregon, each comprised of a single or more counties. According to the state law, the number of judges is assigned to each judicial district. The factors determining the number include the population of the district and the case load. In certain cases, the judicial district is a combination of a number of counties. The appointment of the circuit court judges is done by the judicial district. The number of judges appointed in Oregon circuit courts, as of January 2007, is 173.

In certain cases, if the losing party is not satisfied with the decision of the Oregon Circuit Court it can file an appeal for a review at the Oregon Court of Appeals. However the Court of Appeals does not opt for a re-trial; the task of this court is to review the Circuit Court’s decision. Certain cases are also directly taken up by the Oregon Supreme Court.

Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN) Online

If you want to access information about the cases filed at the Oregon circuit courts, you can logon to the Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN) online services. All you need to do is click on the OJIN Online Application link available at http://courts.oregon.gov/OJD/OnlineServices/OJIN/getstarted.page? The fee for registering as a user with OJIN is $295.00. After that you need to pay a monthly charge of $10.00 irrespective of your searches. The billing also includes charges on the searches performed by a user.