Public Defense Commission seeks new financial and case-management system as providers press legislature for pay, investigators and training funds

SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Public Defense Commission told the Joint Committee on Public Safety on March 20 that it is pursuing a single financial and case management system it calls critical infrastructure, while nonprofit public defender offices and support staff urged the legislature to increase pay, investigator rates and training funding to reduce the state’s unrepresented caseload.

The hearing centered on House Bill 5031, the Public Defense Commission’s primary budget measure. Jessica Camphy, executive director of the Oregon Public Defense Commission, said the commission needs a unified system to replace multiple, fragmented databases and case-management tools. “This is critical infrastructure for the agency,” Camphy said, adding that the system would combine three “pillars”: financial functions, case management and time tracking tied to reporting and accountability.

Camphy’s chief information officer, David Martin, said recent work has advanced the project through two procurement stage gates and that the commission is pursuing a commercial off-the-shelf, software-as-a-service solution to minimize custom development. Martin described the project as a vendor-driven procurement and advised the committee that timelines are variable because contract negotiations and state procurement review can extend schedules. He said the agency’s current best estimate places procurement completion around November 2026 and a system “go-live” in the second quarter of 2028, with an anticipated 14-to-22-month…