Oregon Statutes 8.705 – Written office policies
(1) The district attorney in each county shall develop and formally adopt written office policies concerning all of the following subject areas:
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 8.705
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
(a) Pretrial discovery, including:
(A) The process for obtaining discovery.
(B) Compliance with discovery obligations required by Oregon and federal law.
(C) Existing agreements with law enforcement agencies on data retention and data sharing.
(D) Costs charged for discovery materials.
(b) Prosecutorial ethics, including compliance with the rules of professional conduct adopted under ORS § 9.490.
(c) Confidentiality, including obtaining and handling confidential information.
(d) The use of certified law students.
(e) Charging decisions concerning:
(A) Driving under the influence of intoxicants under ORS § 813.010 or 813.011.
(B) Controlled substance crimes.
(C) The aggregation of property offenses under ORS § 164.043, 164.045, 164.055, 164.057, 164.061, 164.098, 164.125, 164.140, 164.367, 165.013, 165.055, 165.694 or 165.803.
(D) Crimes constituting domestic violence as defined in ORS § 135.230.
(E) Misdemeanor crimes.
(F) Crimes requiring mandatory minimum sentences.
(f) The decision whether to present evidence for purposes of seeking the death penalty under ORS § 163.150.
(g) Plea offers.
(h) Civil compromise under ORS § 135.703 to 135.709.
(i) Diversion programs.
(j) Requests for the imposition of fines and fees, including attorney fees for appointed counsel.
(k) If an early disposition program exists in the county, eligibility and standard disposition recommendations.
(L) If any treatment court exists in the county, eligibility and standard disposition recommendations.
(m) If any pre-arrest diversion program exists in the county, eligibility.
(n) The consideration of collateral consequences of conviction, including immigration consequences.
(o) Sentencing programs, including alternative incarceration programs, conditional release, work release, earned sentence reductions and short-term transitional leave.
(p) The filing of an affidavit and motion for change of judge under ORS § 14.260.
(q) Victim engagement and involvement, including but not limited to involvement in charging decisions.
(r) Pretrial release under ORS § 135.230 to 135.290, including the amount of security release requested for charged offenses and objections to release.
(s) Guilty except for insanity dispositions.
(2) The district attorney shall ensure that the policies described in subsection (1) of this section are available to the public on the district attorney’s website.
(3) No later than five years after the initial adoption of the policies described in subsection (1) of this section, and every five years thereafter, the district attorney shall:
(a) Review the policies, make revisions to the policies as necessary and readopt the policies; and
(b) Make the revised policies available to the public on the district attorney’s website. [2019 c.446 § 1; 2021 c.329 § 1]
8.705 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS Chapter 8 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.