Multnomah County Circuit Court

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The Multnomah County Circuit Court, which composes the 4th Judicial District of the Oregon Circuit Court system, is the general jurisdiction trial court of Multnomah County, Oregon. Judith Matarazzo is the presiding judge of the Court, serving with 37 others. [1] The chief prosecutor is Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez.

Contents

The four court locations are

The Multnomah County Courthouse in 2021 Multnomah County Central Courthouse from east in July 2021.jpg
The Multnomah County Courthouse in 2021
East County Courthouse building in 2022 East County Courthouse, Multnomah County.jpg
East County Courthouse building in 2022

Judiciary

As of August 2023, the following are currently serving judges in the Circuit Court: [2]

Criminal and civil judges

Family and juvenile judges

List of District Attorneys

State's attorneyTerm in officeNotes
John M. Gearin.jpg John M. Gearin 1884–1886
Unknown1886–1900
George E Chamberlain 2.jpg George E. Chamberlain 1900–1903Resigned. Elected Governor in 1902.
Unknown1903–1931
William Langley, Multnomah County district attorney.png William Langley 1954–1957Removed from office by Judge Frank J. Lonergan after being found guilty by a jury for refusing to prosecute gambling.
F. Leo Smith 1957–1958Appointed in 1957.

Did not seek re-election.

Unknown1958–1962
George Van Hoomissen.jpg George Van Hoomissen Did not seek re-election. Ran for Secretary of State instead (lost). [3]
Harl H. Haas Jr. 1972–1981Did not seek re-election. Ran for Attorney General instead (lost). [4]
Mike Schrunk.png Mike Schrunk 1981–2012Longest serving District Attorney in county's history [5]
Rod Underhill 2012–2020Resigned in 2020
Mike Schmidt (lawyer) (cropped).jpg Mike Schmidt 2020–2025Appointed in 2020

Elected in 2020

Nathan Vasquez 2025–present

Elected in 2024

Architecture

The new Multnomah County Courthouse on SW 1st Ave opened October 2020. The 17-story building spans 450,000 square feet and cost $324 million. [6] SRG Partnership was the lead architect, and Hoffman Construction Company lead contractor, both Portland based.

The previous building, a century-old courthouse, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It was sold in 2018 to NBP Capital for $28 million, who said it was "considering various creative uses" that would preserve the historic building. The county assessor valued it at $40 million, but estimated necessary upgrades for earthquake resistance at $70 million. [7]

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References

  1. "Judicial Directory" (PDF). Oregon Judicial Branch. October 7, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2022.
  2. "Judges". Oregon Judicial Department . Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  3. Green, Ashbel. After 4 decades, Van Hoomissen leaves his mark on Oregon. The Oregonian , December 9, 1999.
  4. Whitney, David (November 5, 1980). "Frohnmayer clobbers Haas". The Oregonian. p. E1.
  5. Green, Aimee (2012-12-29). "Mike Schrunk: Multnomah County DA retires with a legacy of firm and fair leadership". The Oregonian . Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  6. Kopochinski, Lisa (October 13, 2020). "Multnomah County Unveils Spacious New Courthouse". Correctional News. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. Njus, Elliot (September 17, 2018). "Multnomah County finds buyer for downtown courthouse". The Oregonian/OregonLive . Retrieved March 28, 2022.