Lawmakers Hear Request for $1.25 Million in State Match to Plan Washington County Courthouse Replacement

House Committee on Judiciary Chair Croft opened a public hearing March 18 on House Bill 3180, which would appropriate $1,250,000 to the Judicial Department to support Washington County’s courthouse replacement planning project and declares an emergency effective upon passage.

State Rep. Nathan Sosa, who identified himself as the House sponsor, told the committee the grant would provide “matching state funds for Washington County’s courthouse replacement planning project.” He described the existing courthouse as cramped and inaccessible and urged support, saying the funding “is the first step in what will be a years long effort to design and construct a new county courthouse.”

The bill’s sponsors and county officials told the committee the courthouse, originally built in the 1920s with an addition in the 1970s, is undersized and does not meet modern seismic standards. Catherine Harrington, who identified herself as the elected chair of the legislative agenda and a participant in the courthouse facilities task force led by the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), said Washington County’s population has grown “from about 57,000 people” in 1970 to “nearly 610,000 people in 2025,” and described a risk that the two connected structures could separate in a major earthquake.

Presiding Judge Rebecca Guptill of the Washington County Circuit Court described accessibility problems and courtroom overcrowding, and tied the lack of space to judicial staffing limits. “If you are a person in my mental health court coming into court in your wheelchair, there’s only one entrance to our separate buildings that actually allows for you to enter the building,” Guptill said, adding that the court’s aging wheelchair lift and small elevator prevent some litigants from reaching counsel tables, witness stands and jury boxes. She said Washington County is “bursting at the seams” and remains short of several judges even after a prior legislative addition; the county had 16 circuit court judges compared with 38 in Multnomah County, she said.

Guptill told the committee that filings rose sharply in the prior year, citing a 17% increase in total filings, including a 23% increase in civil filings, a 17.9% increase in criminal filings and a 25% increase in aid-and-assist filings. Those increases, she said, are forcing shorter hearings and scheduling pressure that reduce litigants’ ability to be heard.

County officials told the committee Washington County is prepared to contribute $1,250,000 as the local match and asked the Legislature to provide the matching state funds to complete planning. No formal action or vote was recorded during the hearing; the committee closed the public hearing at the end of the Washington County testimony.

Why it matters: Committee members were presented with both human-impact testimony about access to justice and technical concerns about public safety and seismic risk. The requested planning funds would initiate a multiyear replacement project that county leaders say is necessary to add courtrooms, judges’ chambers and accessible facilities.

What’s next: The bill remains at the public hearing stage. Committee action (work session or vote) was not recorded in the transcript.