The Circuit Court hears both. It is the state's trial court here and takes felonies, misdemeanors, violations and youth cases. Each Oregon county has one, and there are 36 circuit courts across 27 judicial districts (ORS 3.012). This county shares the 22nd Judicial District with Crook County, and the district's judges can sit in either county.

• Misdemeanors are the lower tier of crimes. Most DUII, shoplifting and drug possession charges sit here.
• Felonies are the top tier, where prison is possible. First-degree burglary and first-degree robbery are two examples.
• Violations, like many traffic tickets, are punished with a fine, never a jail term.

A city can run a municipal court for its own ordinances, and some counties have justice courts. Neither is part of the Oregon Judicial Department. Call the clerk at 541-475-3317 if you are unsure which court has a case.

The courthouse is at 129 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741. Letters go to Jefferson County Circuit Court, 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741. The phone is 541-475-3317, and the clerk's office opens Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Bring a photo ID and the case number if you have one.
• Free public computers in the building let visitors pull up case files.
• Clerks will share basic facts about a case by phone. Legal advice is something they are not allowed to give.
• Calendars and a live video feed of court sit on the court's calendars page.

The District Attorney's Office is in the same block, at 129 SW E Street, Suite 102, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-4452.

The county has three cities: Madras (8,242 people), Culver (1,661) and Metolius (1,015). Those numbers are July 1, 2025 certified estimates from Portland State University.

• The county seat. City officials say tickets written there after 2000 belong to the Circuit Court, 129 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-3317. City Hall can help with a city code matter: 125 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-2344.
• Culver and Metolius. Both towns pay the Sheriff's Office for extra patrol. If a ticket from either town names a city court, phone the Circuit Court clerk and ask where the case is set.

Read the citation itself. It names the court, the date and the time to appear. Tickets sent to a city court stay out of the OJD online search.

Federal Public Law 280 handed Oregon criminal power over most tribal land in 1953, yet Warm Springs was kept out of it. So a crime there that involves a tribal member may go to the tribal court or to federal court instead of the Circuit Court.

Warm Springs Tribal Court takes deliveries at 2126 Warm Springs Street, Warm Springs, OR 97761, and mail at PO Box 850, Warm Springs, OR 97761. Call 541-553-3278. The office opens weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the phones are answered 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tribal police can be reached at 2144 Kota Street, Warm Springs, OR 97761, 541-553-3272.

Someone who stays in jail gets arraigned inside 36 hours, and the count skips Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (ORS 135.010). Often the person appears on a screen, by video link from the jail.

1. The court reads the complaint or indictment, then asks how the person pleads (ORS 135.020).
2. The person hears about two rights: having a lawyer, and, if the charge is a felony, asking for a preliminary hearing (ORS 135.070).
3. At this hearing, a defendant who can't pay may ask for a court-appointed attorney and fill out the money form.
4. Release gets decided: a promise to return, release under rules, or a security amount (ORS 135.245).
5. A new court date is picked. Copy it onto paper or into your phone right then.

A felony arraignment requires the defendant to be there in person, while a misdemeanor client can sometimes send the lawyer instead (ORS 135.030). The local court gives appointed clients two days to call their lawyer's office, and a missed call breaks the release agreement.

Most misdemeanor cases start with a citation or an arrest. Under the statewide release guidelines, plenty of people facing a lesser charge are sent home on a promise to return. DUII usually means release with conditions. From there, expect these stages:

1. An arraignment. The defendant answers guilty, not guilty or no contest.
2. Both sides share evidence, and a plea offer may come.
3. A plea deal, or else a trial decided by a judge or a jury.
4. A sentence that can mix jail, probation, fines and treatment.

Oregon caps misdemeanor jail time by class. The longest is for Class A, at 364 days. A Class B sentence stops at six months, a Class C at 30 days, and violations bring fines with no jail.

HB 4002 brought drug possession back as a crime on September 1, 2024. Oregon now treats it as an unclassified drug enforcement misdemeanor, and jail can reach 180 days. Usually, though, the district attorney has to offer a conditional discharge. That deal pairs probation with treatment, and a person who completes it sees the charge dismissed. Details sit on the court's drug possession citations page.

A felony can move forward in two ways. A grand jury may hear the evidence and return an indictment. Or a judge may hold a preliminary hearing, which must happen within five judicial days if the person is in custody (ORS 135.070). The judge then decides whether there is probable cause to go on (ORS 135.175, 135.185).

Next come more hearings, talks about a plea, and maybe a jury trial. In 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ramos v. Louisiana that a guilty verdict must be unanimous, so all jurors must agree.

Prison limits climb with the class. Five years is the most for a Class C felony. Ten is the most for Class B, and twenty for Class A.

Judges also use Oregon's sentencing grid. One side of the grid scores the crime, and the other scores the person's past record.

Oregon voters approved Measure 11 in 1994. The law fixes a floor on prison time for serious crimes against people. Good conduct inside shaves off nothing. Murder carries a 25-year minimum.

• Release is harder. Measure 11 charges, Class A felonies and violent felonies wait for a judge's ruling. A judge can deny release for a violent felony after a hearing (ORS 135.240).
• Victims weigh in. The state Constitution says release choices must take the victim's safety into account (Or. Const. art. I § 43).
• No contact. Domestic violence, sex abuse and bias cases bring an order that bans contact with the victim. Relatives can't pass notes either (ORS 135.247).

Families should never carry a message from the jail to an alleged victim. It can lead to new charges.

The prosecutor. In Oregon, voters in each county pick their own District Attorney (ORS 8.610). The local office is at 129 SW E Street, Suite 102, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-4452, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The defense. Ask for a lawyer at the first appearance. The court has a screener review a short money questionnaire. A $20 fee is typical. Judges may excuse it, and they may also ask for a contribution. Even a person with zero dollars is given a lawyer. The Oregon Public Defense Commission, a state agency, pays for appointed lawyers.

Oregon is short on lawyers. Around 2,500 people statewide were still waiting on a public defender as 2025 closed, and close to 160 of them were behind bars. Under the federal Betschart ruling, seven days in jail after the first appearance without any lawyer generally means the court has to set the person free on conditions. The charges stay open.

Paying for your own attorney? The Oregon State Bar can refer you at 503-684-3763.

1. Go to the free OJD Records and Calendar Search. You can use it without an account.
2. Type in the person's name.
3. Click the case for its charges, events and results. Filed papers stay offline.

If the search is down for repairs, call the clerk at 541-475-3317 or use the free terminals at 129 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741. The court also sends text reminders before hearings. Sign up so a date is never missed.

OJCIN OnLine is a low-cost paid service that shows the official register of each case. Youth cases are kept out of both.

Deputies serve warrants countywide; ask the Sheriff's Office records staff at 541-475-6520. Inside Madras, city police serve them too, at 541-475-2424. Wanted pages for the state: Marshals' 15 Most Wanted, escapees on Oregon DOC Most Wanted, and FBI Portland. A case with an open warrant shows in the OJD Records Search, and the courthouse terminals and the clerk's phone line work too. Clearing one starts with a lawyer. Next, the person walks into the court that signed the warrant, or calls that court to set a fresh date. Circuit Court: 129 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-3317.

Portland is the federal division for this county, inside the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Federal clerks there work from Portland's Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, 1000 Southwest Third Avenue, Suite 740, Portland, OR 97204, 503-326-8000. Doors open weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• The charge. Federal prosecutors file it from the U.S. Attorney's Portland office, 1000 SW Third Ave, Suite 600, Portland, OR 97204, 503-727-1000.
• Detention hearing. Home or jail until trial gets decided here (18 U.S.C. 3142). U.S. Pretrial Services has its Portland office at 1000 Southwest Third Avenue, Suite 440, Portland, OR 97204, 503-326-8500.
• Custody. Federal prisoners stay with the Marshals, who often use a county jail or FCI Sheridan, 27072 Ballston Road, Sheridan, OR 97378, 503-843-4442. The Marshals' Oregon office: 1000 Southwest 3rd Avenue, Room 401, Portland, OR 97204, 503-326-2209.
• After sentencing. Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

An immigration hold does not end the state case. The charges still go forward in the Circuit Court.

1. A detainer arrives at the jail as ICE Form I-247A.
2. Its request: keep the person in custody for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Oregon's sanctuary laws (ORS 181A.820 to 181A.829; HB 3265, 2021) stop local officers from acting on immigration paperwork unless a judge has signed it. Practically, a detainer on its own is generally not enough for a jail here to keep someone, and the jail won't tip off ICE about a release date for enforcement.
4. HB 3265 also protects people at the courthouse. Nobody may be civilly arrested in a court building without a judge's warrant or order.
5. To find someone ICE took, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

ICE lists its Medford check-in office for this county: 3715 International Way, Medford, OR 97504, 541-690-8813.

A prison sentence moves the person into the Oregon Department of Corrections. Whether male or female, each one starts out at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, 24499 SW Grahams Ferry Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070. That intake period lasts roughly 30 days. Women remain at Coffee Creek afterward, while men head to the prison DOC picks.

• The Oregon Offender Search finds state prisoners by name.
• DOC's main number is 503-945-9090.
• Read our guide to Oregon state prisons for visit and mail rules.

Probation and post-prison supervision run through Adult Community Corrections, 243 SW 3rd Street, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-6145. That office is separate from the jail.

The Circuit Court also handles juvenile matters, and the county's Juvenile Justice Department serves young people aged 12 to 17. A young person goes to juvenile detention rather than the adult jail. Its workers know which center has the teen and the court date. Reach it at 243 SW 3rd Street, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-3463, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Senate Bill 1008 took effect in 2020. For a Measure 11 charge against a teen aged 15 or older, the case begins in juvenile court, and only a waiver hearing can shift it to adult court.
• The Oregon Youth Authority runs the state's youth correctional facilities for those committed by a judge.
• Juvenile records do not appear in the public online search.

The Circuit Court runs JEF Recovery Court for people with a substance use disorder, mostly those at high risk with high needs. A treatment team decides who gets in after the person signs a release of information. The defense lawyer then files a petition and an entry order. Hearings are held twice a month on Friday mornings at 9:45 a.m.

The court also lists a Wellness Court and a DUII Diversion program. Ask about any of them by calling the court at 541-475-3317 and asking for the treatment court coordinator, or talk with the defense lawyer.

The state Constitution spells out a list of victims' rights (Or. Const. art. I § 42, § 43). A few apply without any request, like the chance to address the judge about release or about the sentence. Others, like getting told ahead of time about hearings or a release, only kick in once the victim asks.

• Victim's Assistance at the District Attorney's Office: 129 SW E Street, Suite 102, Madras, OR 97741, 541-475-4463.
• Release alerts. VISOR, run by state corrections, sends word when a person is let out of a county jail or a state prison. Its 24-hour line is 855-691-6246.
• Crime Victims' Compensation is an Oregon DOJ fund for costs like medical care, counseling and lost pay: 1162 Court St. NE, Salem, OR 97301, 800-503-7983.