Washington County, Oregon

How a case moves here

Washington County follows Oregon law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first: Before arraignment, the jail releases people under a standing order written by the presiding judge of each judicial district, or a release assistance officer appointed by that judge decides. At arraignment, a judge makes the release decision. The standing order sets recognizance and conditional release, not dollar amounts.
ORS 135.233, 135.235, 135.240, 135.245 Oregon Chief Justice Order 24-014, Release Guidelines (May 22, 2024)
Time to see a judge: A person held in custody must be arraigned within the first 36 hours of custody, not counting weekends and holidays, unless there is good cause or the defendant asks for more time.
ORS 135.010
Money bail: Senate Bill 48, in effect since July 1, 2022, ended security (money bail) schedules that applied right after arrest. A judge may still require security at arraignment after finding that release on recognizance or conditions is unwarranted.
Oregon Chief Justice Order 24-014, Release Guidelines (May 22, 2024)ORS 135.233
Courts: Circuit courts are Oregon's state trial courts and try all felonies and most misdemeanors. Some counties also have justice courts, and some cities have municipal courts; both may hear misdemeanors committed in their area but not felonies.
ORS 51.050 ORS 221.339
Judges and magistrates: Voters elect circuit judges on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms, and judges must be members of the Oregon State Bar. Justices of the peace are elected to six-year terms. A justice of the peace must be a bar member or complete a judicial course, except in justice courts of record, where bar membership is required.
Or. Const. art. VII (amended), sec. 1 ORS 3.050 ORS 254.005 ORS 51.210, 51.240

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Which judicial districts use a risk tool, and which one, was not checked.

What this county does differently

Pretrial practice

Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as a county-specific tool (not named in the list).

MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)

From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.

Police agencies

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.

Crime and arrests

No figures yet

Reported offenses and arrests for Washington County, counted by the agencies that serve it, appear here once the county series is published. NIBRS reporting here started as early as January 2014.