Top judges for the state and Multnomah County have separately released new rules keeping habitual theft suspects, accused fraudsters and serious hate crime suspects in jail until they go before a judge.
Oregon Chief Justice Megan Flynn on Wednesday ordered Circuit Courts and sheriffs across the state to hold anyone charged with a first-degree bias crime, the legal term for a hate crime, until their first appearance in court.
Previously, those charged with a first-degree bias crime generally were released with conditions before a judge got the case.
In a separate order last week, Multnomah County Presiding Judge Judith Matarazzo issued a county-specific rule that will automatically keep any person charged with a fraud or theft of more than $100 in jail prior to arraignment — if the defendant has already racked up three previous arrests or convictions in three years involving theft or fraud.
“What’s frustrating all of us are the number of times when someone is picked up and released, picked up and released, picked up and released,” Matarazzo said. “At what point do we say, ‘Enough.’”
The screw-tightening changes to the pretrial release rules come after state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 48 in 2022, which did away with the set of standardized bail amounts in favor of new classifications that detain people based on the severity of the crime.
Under those rules, the lowest-level suspects can walk out of jail hours after their arrest by promising to return for their next court date. Those facing middle-tier crimes have various conditions imposed, such as checking in with a supervision officer by phone or in person. Serious crime suspects are held until they can appear before a judge.
The judge at arraignment – when defendants hear charges against them and typically enter a plea – might still release the person with conditions but could alternatively set bail or detain the defendant until a bail hearing.
Matarazzo included a similar three-strike rule for those arrested in stolen car cases when she first implemented the new classifications under Senate Bill 48.
Aaron Knott, policy director for the Multnomah County district attorney, praised the new theft and fraud rule as a way to curb shoplifting but cautioned that piling on too many strict release rules could cause the jail population to spike dramatically.
“We’ve tried to move aggressively, but we’ve tried to move intentionally,” Knott said.
Knott said the district attorney’s office had been concerned with the previous classification of first-degree bias crimes and was pleased to see them now treated more sternly.
Senate Bill 48 also set aside about $70,000 a month for Multnomah County to hire seven release assistance officers and a supervisor, who will interview those held until arraignment to provide more context to the judge, according to a Circuit Court spokesperson.
And there is one more change afoot in the criminal justice system as Multnomah County on Thursday became the first county in Oregon to adopt a new algorithm that will set supervision levels for those who aren’t kept behind bars prior to arraignment.
The new Public Safety Assessment, which is used in 200 other jurisdictions nationwide, is an actuarial program based on nine factors, including age, prior convictions, missed court dates and the current offense.
Under the old system, every defendant had to be interviewed to determine their supervision level, but about 30% of defendants weren’t interviewed because they were unwilling or unable to answer questions.
About $3.2 million in grants from the MacArthur Foundation allowed the county to put the system in place.
— Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane
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