Multnomah County Circuit Court

{{Short description|Circuit court of Multnomah County, Oregon}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

The Multnomah County Circuit Court, which composes the 4th Judicial District of the Oregon Circuit Court system, is the general jurisdiction trial court of Multnomah County, Oregon. Judith Matarazzo is the presiding judge of the Court, serving with 37 others.{{Cite web |date=October 7, 2022 |title=Judicial Directory |url=https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/multnomah/go/Judge%20Documents/JudicialDirectory.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021034810/https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/multnomah/go/Judge%20Documents/JudicialDirectory.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2022 |website=Oregon Judicial Branch}} The chief prosecutor is Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez.

The four court locations are

File:Multnomah County Central Courthouse from east in July 2021.jpg

File:East County Courthouse, Multnomah County.jpg

  • Multnomah County Courthouse (Central Courthouse), located at 1200 SW 1st Ave, Portland
  • Justice Center, located on the third floor of the County Jail / Police HQ building, 1120 SW 3rd Ave, Portland
  • Juvenile Justice Center, 1401 NE 68th Ave, Portland
  • East County Courthouse, 18480 SE Stark St, Portland

Judiciary

As of August 2023, the following are currently serving judges in the Circuit Court:{{Cite web |title=Judges |url=https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/multnomah/go/Pages/judges-home.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819054858/https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/multnomah/go/Pages/judges-home.aspx |archive-date=August 19, 2023 |access-date=August 18, 2023 |website=Oregon Judicial Department}}{{Columns-list|colwidth=15em|Criminal and civil judges

  • Judith Matarazzo, Presiding Judge
  • Cheryl Albrecht, Chief Criminal Judge
  • Christopher Marshall, Chief Civil Court Judge
  • Steffan Alexander
  • Amy Baggio
  • Eric Bloch
  • Leslie Bottomly
  • Adrian Brown
  • Eric Dahlin
  • Bryan Francesconi
  • Rima Ghandour
  • Michael Greenlick
  • Celia Howes
  • Andrew Lavin
  • Angela Lucero
  • Heidi Moawad
  • Melvin Oden-Orr
  • Jenna Plank
  • Christopher Ramras
  • David Rees
  • Shelley Russell
  • Thomas Ryan
  • Chanpone Sinlapasai
  • Kelly Skye
  • Benjamin Souede
  • Katharine von Ter Stegge
  • Nan Waller

Family and juvenile judges

  • Patrick Henry, Chief Probate Judge
  • Susan Svetkey, Chief Family Court Judge
  • Jacqueline Alarcón
  • Maurisa Gates
  • Amy Holmes Hehn
  • Morgan Long
  • Michael Loy
  • Patricia McGuire
  • Susan Svetkey
  • Xiomara Torres
  • Francis Troy
  • Kathryn Villa-Smith}}

List of District Attorneys

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" |State's attorney

! scope="col" |Term in office

! scope="col" |Notes

File:John M. Gearin.jpg

!John M. Gearin

|1884–1886

|

!Unknown

|1886–1900

|

File:George E Chamberlain 2.jpg

!George E. Chamberlain

|1900–1903

|Resigned. Elected Governor in 1902.

!Unknown

|1903–1931

|

File:William Langley, Multnomah County district attorney.png

!William Langley

|1954–1957

|Removed from office by Judge Frank J. Lonergan after being found guilty by a jury for refusing to prosecute gambling.

!F. Leo Smith

|1957–1958

|Appointed in 1957.

Did not seek re-election.

!Unknown

|1958–1962

|

File:George Van Hoomissen.jpg

!George Van Hoomissen

|

|Did not seek re-election. Ran for Secretary of State instead (lost).Green, Ashbel. After 4 decades, Van Hoomissen leaves his mark on Oregon. The Oregonian, December 9, 1999.

style="height:2em;"

|

! scope="row" |Harl H. Haas Jr.

|1972–1981

|Did not seek re-election. Ran for Attorney General instead (lost).{{cite news |last=Whitney |first=David |date=November 5, 1980 |title=Frohnmayer clobbers Haas |page=E1 |newspaper=The Oregonian}}

style="height:2em;"

|File:Mike Schrunk.png

! scope="row" |Mike Schrunk

|1981–2012

|Longest serving District Attorney in county's history{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Aimee |date=2012-12-29 |title=Mike Schrunk: Multnomah County DA retires with a legacy of firm and fair leadership |language=en |newspaper=The Oregonian |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2012/12/mike_schrunk_multnomah_county.html |access-date=2022-08-04}}

style="height:2em;"

|

! scope="row" |Rod Underhill

|2012–2020

|Resigned in 2020

style="height:2em;"

|File:Mike Schmidt (lawyer) (cropped).jpg

! scope="row" |Mike Schmidt

|2020–2025

|Appointed in 2020

Elected in 2020

style="height:2em;"

|

! scope="row" |Nathan Vasquez

|2025–present

|

Elected in 2024

Architecture

The new Multnomah County Courthouse on SW 1st Ave opened October 2020. The 17-story building spans 450,000 square feet and cost $324 million.{{Cite web |last=Kopochinski |first=Lisa |date=October 13, 2020 |title=Multnomah County Unveils Spacious New Courthouse |url=https://correctionalnews.com/2020/10/13/multnomah-county-unveils-spacious-new-courthouse/ |access-date=March 27, 2022 |website=Correctional News}} SRG Partnership was the lead architect, and Hoffman Construction Company lead contractor, both Portland based.

The previous building, a century-old courthouse, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It was sold in 2018 to NBP Capital for $28 million, who said it was "considering various creative uses" that would preserve the historic building. The county assessor valued it at $40 million, but estimated necessary upgrades for earthquake resistance at $70 million.{{Cite news |last=Njus |first=Elliot |date=September 17, 2018 |title=Multnomah County finds buyer for downtown courthouse |work=The Oregonian/OregonLive |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2018/09/multnomah_county_finds_buyer_f.html |access-date=March 28, 2022}}

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{Cite news |last=Shepherd |first=Katie |date=August 30, 2017 |title=Prosecutors' Decision to Cripple a Judge's Career Echoes a Larger Battle Over Criminal Justice Reform in Oregon |work=Willamette Week |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2017/08/30/prosecutors-decision-to-cripple-a-judges-career-echoes-a-larger-battle-over-criminal-justice-reform-in-oregon/ |access-date=March 29, 2022}}