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District attorneys outline modest, broad package; say counties need continued support for discovery costs
Summary
The Oregon District Attorneys Association previewed a package of bills addressing behavioral health, child victim protections, process efficiency, extradition technical fixes, and discovery cost reimbursement; the group urged continued state allocation for county discovery expenses.
Amanda Dalton, appearing for the Oregon District Attorneys Association, presented the DA association's priorities to the Judiciary committees and described a set of bills intended to support prosecutors, victims, and court efficiency.
"We convene over the summer prior to a long session…We gather ideas this year. I think we had close to 150," Dalton said, summarizing the association's vetting process. She characterized the association's set as "a somewhat modest package" and said negotiators had reached agreement so far only on the release of grand jury records.
Dalton outlined the association's principal bills. House Bill 2470 is described as a behavioral health package; House Bill 2474 and Senate Bill 640 were identified as companion bills to extend protections for child victims and to modernize family definitions in serious child-abuse statutes. House Bill 2473, a House Judiciary Committee bill, targets process efficiencies such as authentication of records and clarified authority to image digital devices of homicide victims; Dalton said the association and other stakeholders are discussing narrow ways to allow rapid access to electronic records while guarding privacy and investigative needs.
Dalton said the association was seeking a narrow technical fix to extradition law (HB 2466 and SB 277) to permit district attorneys and sheriffs to sign certain release agreements to facilitate returning serious offenders to Oregon for prosecution. She also described bills addressing fleeing/eluding enhancements (HB 3097 / SB 623), and several court-case "fix" bills consolidated on the Senate side in SB 617 related to statutory clarification after recent appellate decisions.
On discovery costs, Dalton said counties have received state allocations for indigent defense discovery and urged continued funding. "The legislature allocates I think anywhere from 6 to 7,000,000 to counties through OPDC primarily for indigent defense discovery costs… This is around a hundred and 50,000 to $200,000 [for smaller counties]," she said, warning that smaller counties could face fiscal pressure if the state reduced reimbursements.
Dalton called the package targeted to problems DAs and victim advocates see in practice and said the association expects continued negotiation and technical drafting in the weeks ahead.
Ending: Committee members thanked Dalton; she said materials with bill numbers were uploaded to the committee packet and that negotiators will continue work before formal hearings.
