Oregon administrative hearings agency clears pandemic backlog but UI timeliness lag persists after digital migration

Co-chair Gomberg opened a public hearing on House Bill 5,007 on Feb. 12 and heard from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) about recent progress and remaining challenges, especially in unemployment insurance (UI) caseload timeliness.

OAH Chief Administrative Law Judge Rhodes said the office cleared roughly 11,000 contested‑case hearings that built up during the COVID-19 pandemic, while continuing to handle a record volume of referrals from state agencies. "We serve the public by providing fair, accessible, and efficient contested case services in a neutral forum," Rhodes told the committee, and he credited judges and staff for clearing the backlog during the last biennium.

The agency remains the central panel for contested administrative hearings for most state agencies under Chapter 183 and handles a broad variety of casetypes. Rhodes said UI hearings account for about 75% of OAH’s volume by referral. He described three hearing modes— in person, virtual (WebEx), and telephonic— and said telephonic hearings remain the default for many UI matters.

Despite clearing the pandemic backlog, Rhodes said the OAH is missing its key performance measure for UI timeliness (KPM 7). The metric requires disposing of…