Lawmakers hear wide-ranging budget requests for Oregon courts during HB 5012 hearing

Chief Justice Megan Flynn of the Oregon Supreme Court and other court leaders told the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety on Feb. 27 that House Bill 5012 includes what they called "critical investments" needed to maintain access to justice across the state.

Chief Justice Megan Flynn, chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, opened the hearing and asked the committee to consider "the critical investment that we are asking you to make in Oregon State court system," and called attention to written testimony filed for related bills including requests for additional circuit judges and competitive judicial salaries.

The hearing featured a sequence of witnesses — judges, county officials, law-enforcement leaders, bar organizations and legal-aid providers — who supported a set of policy option packages (POPs) in HB 5012. The most frequently cited requests were funds for courthouse planning and replacement (POP 118 and POP 120), enhanced court security (POP 101), additional judicial positions (POP 108), judicial compensation (POP 102), and expanded civil and immigration legal services (POP 130).

Deputy State Court Administrator Phil Lehi framed several of the capital requests and clarified one budget classification for the record: "Slide 187 said the funds for POP 120 was 105,600,000 general fund. Those actually are bond proceeds, so should be classified as other funds," he said, and said the court would submit a corrected slide.

Why it matters: supporters told the committee that courts across Oregon are coping with rising caseloads, aging and unsafe facilities, security gaps and staff shortages that they said impair timely access to hearings and public safety.

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