Oregon lawmakers regulate guns, public defense, while crime victim, exoneree funding stall

Yahoo

02-07-2025

Bills meant to reform and direct more money to the state's criminal justice system had a mixed bag this 2025 Legislative Session. (Photo by Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Bills meant to reform and direct more money to the state's criminal justice system had some major wins and some major losses during the 2025 Legislative Session. Much needed funding for public defense lawyers, new gun control measures and new civil liberties protections overcame budgetary challenges and some strong opposition, while efforts to ensure financial compensation for victims of crime, and those who say they've been wrongfully incarcerated, remain in limbo.
Addressing the state's ongoing public defender shortage was among the most pressing issues for lawmakers during the six-month session. The matter reached a fever-pitch in April, when Gov. Tina Kotek fired and replaced the head of the Oregon Public Defense Commission, calling it 'unacceptable' for thousands of Oregonians to go through the justice system without a lawyer.
Under House Bill 2614, she will be allowed to fire the commission's executive director for 'just cause.'
Lawmakers sought to expand the capacity for experienced lawyers' to take on cases by allocating in House Bill 5031 a nearly 15% funding increase to the commission's more than $700 million budget. But missing is more money to be used directly to support hiring more trial attorneys statewide, as Kotek requested in June.
Perhaps the biggest blow to justice reform advocates was the failure of lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1007, which would have streamlined the payout process to Oregonians found innocent after being wrongfully convicted and serving time in prison.
The bill's passage would've likely called into question the state's handling of dozens of cases, and its failure 'only further harms exonerees and their families,' according to Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Gun control also rose to the top of Democrats' agenda by the end of the session. They passed Senate Bill 243, banning bump stocks and rapid-fire devices, and allowing local governments to ban the concealed carry of guns in public buildings. But, House Bill 2076, seeking to create a statewide gun licensing program, died in the House Revenue Committee in the face of staunch Republican opposition during the last week of the session.
A bill to increase pay for state judges — House Bill 2712 — passed, but another — House Bill 2469 — that would have given them more discretion to lower penalties for some minor offenses, turning some misdemeanor crimes instead into 'violations,' failed.
Oregonians who plead guilty to crimes on the grounds of insanity will navigate new legal guidelines under House Bill 2471, which clarifies circumstances under which a mental disorder can be used to absolve a defendant of full responsibility for committing a crime. District attorneys advocating for the bill argued that the clarity is needed in the wake of ongoing legal debates around using insanity pleas.
The safety of public officials gained urgency in the wake of the fatal shootings of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman at their home June 16, and the near-fatal shootings of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their home the same morning.
A day before the politically-motivated attack by 57-year-old Vance Boelter, Oregon lawmakers voted in favor of a bill that would conceal their home addresses from the public, as well as other candidates for office, Senate Bill 224. Another bill that would have made it an official crime to threaten a public official, Senate Bill 473, passed in the Oregon Senate but did not make it through the House.
The Oregon Legislature passed several bills meant to offer justice to victims of abuse and sexual assault.
Senate Bill 180 confers greater protections from defamation lawsuits for victims of sexual assault. Advocates say such suits can have a chilling effect on victims' willingness to bring criminal charges against perpetrators. House Bill 2975 restores courts' ability to impose distinct sentences for acts of violence like assault and strangulation that have been committed in the context of domestic violence.
But when it comes to funding agencies that work with sexual assault victims, lawmakers came up short. House Bill 3196 would have allocated $18.5 million to the Oregon Department of Justice for awarding grants to nonprofits that help victims of abuse find safety and access shelters. House Bill 3070 would have allocated an additional $400,000 for the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, which certifies sexual assault nurse examiners.
Neither effort advanced out of the powerful budgeting Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
The act of doxxing has now become a misdemeanor under Senate Bill 1121, building on a previous law that empowered victims to sue. It is also now a misdemeanor to distribute AI-generated nude images under House Bill 2299, which prohibits sharing such images.
To curb illicit sex trafficking in spas and massage parlors in the state, Kotek signed House Bill 3819 which raises fines for operating facilities that violate state trafficking laws, and allows the State Board of Massage Therapists to post signs on businesses that violate such laws.
But in amendments, the bill was scrubbed of language empowering district attorneys to prosecute businesses based on testimony from victimized women who grow reluctant to share that testimony in court later on, a change that critics worry gives the law now less teeth.
A bill conferring new rights for foster kids — Senate Bill 875 — hit unexpected speedbumps when Kotek vetoed it after raising concerns that the bill did not clearly define perpetrators, abuse and the definition of custody and a child in care of the state.
The bill would have required a court order from a foster parent seeking to block or limit contact among foster children and their siblings, and provided kids in the foster care system with a public attorney. The bill also guaranteed them access to personal belongings when being moved between new foster placements, and required they be given appropriate luggage to carry their belongings.
The Senate moved to override Kotek's veto of the bill, but the House opted to concur with Kotek after she raised concerns about the bill's specificity.
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