Oregon must dismiss more than 1,400 criminal cases due to attorney shortage, court rules

Key Highlights

• The attorney shortage – due in part to the increasing difficulty of recruiting attorneys for the low-salary, high-caseload jobs – has meant that people have had cases hanging over them for extended periods of time, impacting their housing, employment and families, advocates say. Oregon’s highest court ruled on Thursday that dismissals are required if the state has failed to provide counsel within 60 days after arraignment for a misdemeanor and within 90 days for a felony.
• State data on unrepresented defendants showed that as of this week, more than 1,400 active cases fall in that category, including hundreds of people who have been waiting more than a year for an attorney. The ruling dictates that the cases be dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can re-file charges.
• The court said charges can be brought again “when the state is able to provide the counsel to which a defendant is entitled”.
• The ruling also said dismissal isn’t required if during the 60- or 90-day period the defendant failed to appear in court for a required hearing. The case originated with a man named Allen Rex Roberts, who was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen car in August 2021.
• The charges were dismissed in October 2022 because of the state’s failure to appoint him a lawyer, but in April 2024, prosecutors re-indicted Roberts on the same charges.