Oregon Criminal Records

Oregon sells its state criminal history to anyone, and tells the person who was searched. The State Police's Open Records check, $33 a request, returns Oregon convictions and recent open arrests on any named individual, after the subject has been notified who asked. The courts run one statewide system for all 36 counties, with free basic case information online and a subscription for the full register of actions. And since January 1, 2022 the state sets aside most convictions for no filing fee, on waiting periods measured in a few years rather than decades. This page gives the Oregon rule and the Oregon search for each record, with government sources only.

Oregon's rule is in ORS 181A.230 and 181A.245, and the State Police's criminal history page states it plainly: "Under provisions of Oregon Revised Statute, Chapter 181A, a person or agency, other than a Criminal Justice Agency, or a Law Enforcement Agency, may obtain Oregon Criminal Offender Information." The Open Records portal sets the price and the condition: "$33.00 per request (non-refundable)," and "Open Records must notify the individual of the request and who is making the request," with the report released after the notice period the statute sets. The paper version is the request for Oregon criminal history information on another individual, marked "(OPEN RECORD) ORS 181A.230 AND ORS 181A.245," with the same $33 by check or money order. What comes back is the statute's definition of open record information: Oregon convictions and arrests less than a year old with no disposition, and nothing else; arrests that were dismissed, acquittals and older open arrests are not in it, and neither is any other state. It is a name search, and the criminal records page explains why a name match is a guess. The fingerprint version is for the person's own review and for the employers and licensing bodies the statutes name, and the same chapter of the code was amended again in the 2026 session, as the legislature's chapter page notes.

The Oregon Judicial Department runs every circuit court on one case management system, and its records and calendar search gives "free online access to court calendars and basic case information for the Oregon circuit courts, Tax Court, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court," by name or case number, through the Oregon eCourt Case Information portal. The full record is behind OJCIN OnLine, "the official website of Register of Actions and judgment records for the State of Oregon Judicial Department," a subscription whose account "will be used to log into both the OECI and ACMS systems," the second being the appellate system. Felonies and misdemeanors are both tried in the circuit court, one per county or judicial district, and the municipal and justice courts handle violations and city ordinance cases on their own records, which the county pages on this site link. A background check company's "Oregon court record" is a copy of the same statewide index, on the date it was pulled, and the criminal records page explains what a copy misses.

Oregon does not call it expungement; the court sets the conviction or the arrest aside under ORS 137.225, "order setting aside conviction, contempt finding or record of criminal charge; fees; prerequisites; limitations." Senate Bill 397 of 2021 rewrote the section effective January 1, 2022, and the Judicial Department's circuit court fee schedule in force from that day lists "motion for order setting aside a conviction, ORS 137.225(1)(f), $0." The waiting periods now run from the conviction or the release from imprisonment: one year for a Class B or C misdemeanor or a violation, three years for a Class A misdemeanor, five years for a Class C felony and seven for a Class B felony, with Class A felonies, most sex offenses, traffic crimes and the other offenses the section lists excluded, and with an arrest that never became a charge eligible after a year and a charge that was dismissed or acquitted eligible at once. A set-aside record is sealed, the person may say the arrest or conviction did not occur, and the order reaches the State Police, the prosecutor and the arresting agency. A copy sold before the order keeps the case, and the federal rule on complete and up to date public records, on the criminal records page, is what forces the copy to catch up.

Oregon's Public Records Law puts the police file in ORS 192.345, "public records conditionally exempt from disclosure," whose third item covers "investigatory information compiled for criminal law purposes," and then carves the arrest back out in the same sentence: "The record of an arrest or the report of a crime shall be disclosed unless and only for so long as there is a clear need to delay disclosure in the course of a specific investigation, including the need to protect the complaining party or the victim." So an Oregon arrest is public on the day it happens, save a specific and temporary reason, and the detective's file behind it is not. Who is in custody is posted by the county sheriffs, the Multnomah County Sheriff's online inmate data for Portland among them, which points anyone without a match to "the jail information line at 503-988-3689," and by the Department of Corrections' Oregon Offender Search, which the Department "provides as a service to the public" for the people in its prisons and on post-prison supervision. The arrest records page covers what happens to a booking after it leaves the roster.

An Oregon judgment's remedies last ten years. Under ORS 18.180, "except as provided in ORS 18.180 to 18.192, judgment remedies for a judgment in a civil action expire 10 years after the entry of the judgment," and a creditor who renews the judgment before then gets another ten. The judgment lien on the debtor's land in a county arises when the judgment is recorded there, and, in the chapter's words, "if the recording is made before the time that the judgment lien for the judgment would otherwise have expired under ORS 18.180 to 18.190, the recording extends the judgment lien of the judgment, without loss of priority." The court records page covers where the judgment records and the county lien records are searched.

Oregon is a single federal judicial district, the District of Oregon, under 28 U.S.C. 117, and court is held at Coquille, Eugene or Springfield, Klamath Falls, Medford, Pendleton and Portland. A federal criminal case from any of Oregon's 36 counties is on that one docket and on PACER, whose prices and gaps are on the criminal records page.

Whether a person has an Oregon conviction: the State Police's $33 Open Records check answers it, by name, and the person is told who asked.

Whether a person was charged in a county: the Judicial Department's free case search answers it statewide, and OJCIN OnLine carries the full register of actions.

Whether a person was arrested: the record of the arrest is disclosed under ORS 192.345 unless a specific investigation needs a delay.

Whether a person is in custody now: the county sheriff's inmate search answers it, and Oregon Offender Search answers it for state prison and post-prison supervision.

Whether an old case can still be found: a set-aside case is sealed at the court and the State Police, a judgment's remedies lapse at ten years unless renewed, and a copy that predates the set-aside is reached through the federal rule.