Multnomah County Circuit Court

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 Mike Schmidt.

The four court locations are

Multnomah County Courthouse (Central Courthouse), located at 1200 SW 1st Ave, Portland
Justice Center, located on the third floor of the County Jail / Police HQ building, 1120 SW 3rd Ave, Portland
Juvenile Justice Center, 1401 NE 68th Ave, Portland
East County Courthouse, 18480 SE Stark St, Portland

Judiciary

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

Criminal and civil judges

Judith Matarazzo, Presiding Judge
Cheryl Albrecht, Chief Criminal Judge
Christopher Marshall, Chief Civil Court Judge
Steffan Alexander
Amy Baggio
Eric Bloch
Leslie Bottomly
Adrian Brown
Eric Dahlin
Bryan Francesconi
Rima Ghandour
Michael Greenlick
Celia Howes
Andrew Lavin
Angela Lucero
Heidi Moawad
Melvin Oden-Orr
Jenna Plank
Christopher Ramras
David Rees
Shelley Russell
Thomas Ryan
Chanpone Sinlapasai
Kelly Skye
Benjamin Souede
Katharine von Ter Stegge
Nan Waller

Family and juvenile judges

Patrick Henry, Chief Probate Judge
Susan Svetkey, Chief Family Court Judge
Jacqueline Alarcón
Maurisa Gates
Amy Holmes Hehn
Morgan Long
Michael Loy
Patricia McGuire
Susan Svetkey
Xiomara Torres
Francis Troy
Kathryn Villa-Smith

List of District Attorneys

	Term in office	Notes
John M. Gearin	1884–1886
Unknown	1886–1900
George E. Chamberlain	1900–1903	Resigned. Elected Governor in 1902.
Unknown	1903–1931
William Langley	1954–1957	Removed from office by Judge Frank J. Lonergan after being found guilty by a jury for refusing to prosecute gambling.
F. Leo Smith	1957–1958	Appointed in 1957. Did not seek re-election.
Unknown	1958–1962
George Van Hoomissen		Did not seek re-election. Ran for Secretary of State instead (lost).^[3]
Harl H. Haas Jr.	1972–1981	Did not seek re-election. Ran for Attorney General instead (lost).^[4]
Mike Schrunk	1981–2012	Longest serving District Attorney in county's history^[5]
Rod Underhill	2012–2020	Resigned in 2020
Mike Schmidt	2020–present	Appointed in 2020 Elected in 2020

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]

References

^ "Judicial Directory" (PDF). Oregon Judicial Branch. October 7, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2022.
^ "Judges". Oregon Judicial Department. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
^ Green, Ashbel. After 4 decades, Van Hoomissen leaves his mark on Oregon. The Oregonian, December 9, 1999.
^ Whitney, David (November 5, 1980). "Frohnmayer clobbers Haas". The Oregonian. p. E1.
^ 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.
^ Kopochinski, Lisa (October 13, 2020). "Multnomah County Unveils Spacious New Courthouse". Correctional News. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
^ Njus, Elliot (September 17, 2018). "Multnomah County finds buyer for downtown courthouse". The Oregonian/OregonLive. Retrieved March 28, 2022.

Shepherd, Katie (August 30, 2017). "Prosecutors' Decision to Cripple a Judge's Career Echoes a Larger Battle Over Criminal Justice Reform in Oregon". Willamette Week. Retrieved March 29, 2022.

External links

Courts.Oregon.gov — Multnomah County Circuit Court, 4th Judicial District

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[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.

[Oregonian-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.

[OregonianRetirement-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.

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