Oregon Judicial Department shows rising caseloads, data dashboards and daily feeds to track unrepresented defendants

The Oregon Judicial Department told the Public Safety Subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 29 that criminal caseloads are rising in several categories, that an “unrepresented” defendant crisis is slowing case resolution, and that new data tools and nightly feeds are being used to monitor and coordinate responses across state partners.

Nancy Kozine, state court administrator, said criminal filings “continue to be a very significant portion of our workload,” and highlighted increases in drug-related misdemeanors, some serious felonies and a spike in requests to set aside records following recent statutory changes. Kozine and Jessica Rozier, assistant deputy state court administrator for operations, described the Oregon eCourt program’s Odyssey case management system, a judicial data warehouse and public dashboards that OJD uses to track filings, time to disposition, clearance rates and unrepresented individuals.

Why it matters: Committee members were told the number of people who lack counsel and the growing complexity of cases — more digital evidence, more mental health evaluations and greater volumes of filings — are creating persistent backlogs and longer dockets. OJD said timely sharing of data with partners such as the Oregon Public Defense Commission (OPDC) and the Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) helps identify counties and charges where targeted interventions may speed resolution.

Key figures and trends

- Murder filings: Kozine said the department recorded 146 murder-case filings in 2024 and noted that, while the percentage increase appears large, the raw number is much smaller.

- Diver…