Marion County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A judge of the circuit court for the Third Judicial District makes most release decisions. A person in custody must be brought before a judge quickly (ORS 135.245). For someone kept in jail, the first court date, called the arraignment, comes within 36 hours, though the clock pauses over Saturdays, Sundays and court holidays (ORS 135.010). So a Friday night arrest may not reach court until Monday or Tuesday.

The judge must decide on release at that first hearing. When the court needs longer, it holds a separate release hearing inside 48 hours, five days at the very most (ORS 135.245). Before court, a release assistance officer may talk with the person in jail and send a short report to the judge (ORS 135.235).

Not every case waits for a judge. Every Oregon judicial district keeps a written order for jail staff to follow, shaped by the Chief Justice's statewide rules (ORS 135.233). Under it, the jail can let many people with low-level charges go on a signed promise to appear.

If a judge orders release from court, the jail usually gets the paperwork after 5:30 p.m. Release from the jail then usually comes around 7:00 p.m.

Oregon uses three kinds of release (ORS 135.230):

• Personal recognizance. The person signs, promising to attend every court date, and pays nothing. Oregon judges begin here (ORS 135.245).
• Conditional release. Home again, with rules attached, like check-ins, no alcohol, or staying away from a certain person or place.
• Security release. Cash or property stands behind the promise. This is what most families mean when they say bail.

Judges are told to use the mildest condition likely to protect the public and the alleged victim (ORS 135.245). Every release agreement says to appear in court on the set day and not to leave Oregon without the court's OK (ORS 135.250).

Charges of family violence, a sex offense or a hate-based crime bring a no-contact rule right away. The jailed person cannot reach the alleged victim by phone, letter or a go-between, and that includes you (ORS 135.247, 135.250). Passing along a message can break the order and bring new charges.

Oregon has no list of dollar amounts by charge. Instead, the Chief Justice's statewide release guidelines (ORS 135.233) sort charges into three groups, and the county's standing release order follows them:

• Usually released on a promise. Most nonperson misdemeanors and nonperson Class C felonies, plus driving while suspended.
• Released with conditions. Drunk or drugged driving, misdemeanors against a person other than domestic cases, many Class B felonies, and Class C felonies against a person.
• Held until a judge decides. Family violence, sex offenses, Measure 11 crimes, Class A felonies, stalking or strangling charged as felonies, missed court dates, running from officers, resisting arrest and some others.

Where security is set, the usual payment is a tenth of the total, with $25 as the floor (ORS 135.265). On $5,000 of security, that means $500. On $150, it means $25. A warrant names its own security amount (ORS 133.140).

For the exact figure in one case, call the circuit court's Criminal Department at 503-588-8489 on a weekday. After hours, the jail staff can tell you.

The Jail Bail Window is at 4000 Aumsville Highway SE, Salem, OR 97317. It handles deposits on weeknights from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It takes cash only.

1. Call the jail at 503-581-1183 before you drive out.
2. Spell out their legal name and birthday, then ask the security set on each charge and the total 10 percent due.
3. Ask if another case, county or agency has placed a hold on them.
4. Bring the exact deposit in cash. Ask if you will need a photo ID.
5. Decide whose name goes on the receipt. The refund goes to that person, so keep the receipt safe.

Release takes time after you pay, because staff must finish the paperwork. Wait in the lobby or ask how long it should take.

Yes. On weekdays the deposit goes to the Circuit Court Annex, which shares the jail's address: 4000 Aumsville Highway SE, Salem, OR 97317. The Criminal Department line is 503-588-8489.

• Open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Closed on county holidays. On those days, use the jail window instead.
• Takes cash, credit or debit cards, and cashier's checks.

Cashier's checks come with extra conditions, so ask the clerk who to make one out to before you buy it. Money owed on a city ticket, or on a Justice Court matter, is paid to the court that issued it.

Here is the short version:

• Cash: taken at both the Annex in the daytime and the jail window at night.
• Credit or debit card: only at the Annex, during weekday hours.
• Cashier's check: only at the Annex, and only if it meets the court's rules.
• Personal checks and money orders: ask the clerk first, because the court and jail name only cash, cards and cashier's checks.

Money posted in the defendant's own name will not come back to the friend who brought it. Put it in your name if you want it returned to you.

Oregon law also protects the deposit itself. Officers cannot take the cash you bring for a release deposit without a warrant or a forfeiture order from a court (ORS 135.275).

No. Bail bond companies and bondsmen do not operate in Oregon. The family pays the deposit itself, straight to the court or the jail. A 2009 House committee paper noted that for-profit sureties disappeared here in the mid-1970s.

There are two other ways to post security besides the 10 percent deposit (ORS 135.265):

• Pay the full security amount in cash.
• Put up shares, bonds, or Oregon real estate whose equity equals double the security. A sworn statement must back it up.

A friend or relative may also sign as a surety. A surety agrees to cover the entire amount if the release terms are broken (ORS 135.230). Think hard before you sign. You could owe the full sum.

Money posted on one case cannot free a person who is also held on a separate matter. These can still keep someone locked up:

• A second case. A new charge, an old warrant or a city court case needs its own release.
• Another county's or state's warrant. That place may ask to have the person sent there.
• Probation or parole. A violation report can lead the supervising officer to lodge a hold. The Sheriff's Office runs Parole and Probation from 4040 Aumsville Highway SE, Salem, OR 97317, 503-588-8492.
• A no-release charge. Family violence, sex offenses and similar serious cases usually stay put until the arraignment.
• A federal hold. A person wanted on a federal case goes to the U.S. Marshals.

Before you pay, ask the jail at 503-581-1183 to read you every hold and every case on file.

Under the state constitution, someone accused of murder, aggravated murder or treason may be denied release outright when the proof is strong (Or. Const. art. I, § 14 and § 43). The release statute says the same for those three charges (ORS 135.240).

Jail can also be the answer on a violent felony charge. First comes a hearing, and the judge must find that letting the person out would put the victim or the public in danger of physical injury or sexual harm (ORS 135.240). A violent felony is one where serious injury happened or was threatened.

Requests to keep someone jailed are made by the District Attorney's Office, 555 Court Street NE, Suite 3250, Salem, OR 97301. Its Victim Assistance program answers at 503-588-5253. The DA's guide for victims says a bail hearing is usually set within one week of arraignment.

A judge can revisit release terms or the dollar figure if circumstances shift (ORS 135.285). Here is how families usually help:

1. Have the lawyer file a written request for a fresh look at release.
2. Collect pay stubs, a rental agreement, class schedules, or proof that children or aging parents rely on them. Note what the family can afford.
3. Offer a safe plan, such as a sober adult to live with or treatment to start.
4. Come to the hearing. A judge may ask who the person will stay with.

Under Oregon's guidelines, being poor should not by itself keep someone in jail. A federal court order also helps. A jailed person who passes a full week past arraignment with no lawyer is generally let out on conditions, though the case keeps going.

To learn when a release hearing is set, call the circuit court's main line at 503-588-5105.

Anyone who cannot hire a lawyer without real hardship can get one at state cost (ORS 151.485). The Oregon Public Defense Commission (OPDC) pays for this help. Renamed in January 2024, the commission shifted under the governor's branch of state government in 2025.

1. Go to the court hearing. The court says you must attend to get a lawyer appointed.
2. Fill out the money form at the hearing, or get it from the court's forms center. A screener checks it.
3. Expect a $20 application fee. The judge can waive it and may order a later contribution, but nobody is left to face the case alone because money is short.

The court lists two local defense groups: the Marion County Association of Defenders and the Public Defender of Marion County. For the name of the office handling the case, phone the Criminal Department at 503-588-8489.

Lawyers are scarce across Oregon. State numbers for December 31, 2025, showed close to 2,500 people waiting on an appointed lawyer. About 160 of them were behind bars.

Circuit court offices are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except holidays.

• Main courthouse: 100 High Street NE, Salem, OR 97301, 503-588-5105.
• Criminal Court Annex (at the jail): 4000 Aumsville Highway SE, Salem, OR 97317, 503-588-8489.
• Juvenile Court: 2970 Center Street NE, Salem, OR 97301, 503-566-2974.
• Justice Court (a county court for some smaller cases): 4660 Portland Road NE, Suite 107, Salem, OR 97305, 503-576-7200.
• Salem Municipal Court (city cases): 2850 Broadway Street NE, Salem, OR 97303, 503-588-6146.
• Woodburn Municipal Court (at City Hall): 270 Montgomery Street, Woodburn, OR 97071, 503-982-5222.
• Federal court (Eugene Division): Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse, 405 East Eighth Avenue, Suite 2100, Eugene, OR 97401, 503-326-8000.

Keizer and many smaller towns hold their own city courts too. Our court page lists each one with the number to call.

At the close of a case where all release terms were kept, the clerk sends 85 percent of the deposit to whoever the receipt names (ORS 135.265). The court keeps 15 percent, at least $5 and at most $750, plus any interest. On a $1,000 deposit, $150 is kept and $850 comes back.

The local court adds that a deposit may first pay fines and fees on the case, and other debts of the defendant or the person who paid. Money posted in the defendant's name goes back to the defendant.

Missing court costs far more:

• The judge can issue an arrest warrant and declare that the whole security sum is lost, far more than the deposit itself (ORS 135.280).
• If the person does not come back or show a good excuse within 30 days, the court enters a judgment for the rest.
• Not showing up adds a new charge. With a misdemeanor case it counts as a Class A misdemeanor, and with a felony case it rises to a Class C felony (ORS 162.195, 162.205).

For refund questions, call the Criminal Department at 503-588-8489.

Pocket property, such as keys, a wallet or a phone, comes back through the Bail Window at 4000 Aumsville Highway SE, Salem, OR 97317. The person in custody must make a written request and name who may pick it up. Staff will hand it only to the person named on that form, so the person inside has to tell you they named you.

Bring a photo ID when you come. For money left on a jail account, ask staff at 503-581-1183 how the balance is paid back at release. Our account money page explains how deposits and refunds usually work.

Cases filed by federal prosecutors for this area go to the Eugene Division of Oregon's federal district court. Filings are taken at 405 East Eighth Avenue, Suite 2100, Eugene, OR 97401, on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The clerk's office line is 503-326-8000.

1. Soon after arrest, the court holds a detention hearing. The question there is custody or supervised release for the months before trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. A pretrial officer gives the judge a background report first. The Eugene Pretrial Services office is at 405 East Eighth Avenue, Room 1800, Eugene, OR 97401, 541-431-4080.
3. A person who is held stays under the U.S. Marshals Service, 1000 SW Third Avenue, Room 401, Portland, OR 97204, 503-326-2209. The Marshals may use county jails with federal agreements and the detention center at FCI Sheridan, 27072 Ballston Road, Sheridan, OR 97378, 503-843-4442. Call the Marshals to learn where.
4. Only after sentencing does the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator show the prison.

A deposit answers the state charge and nothing else. Immigration works on its own track:

1. Federal immigration officers (ICE) may lodge a detainer for the person on Form I-247A.
2. That form requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE time to collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Oregon's sanctuary laws (ORS 181A.820 to 181A.829, strengthened by HB 3265 in 2021) forbid state and local officers from carrying out ICE paperwork that lacks a judge's signature. In practice, an Oregon jail generally lets a person go on time despite a detainer and keeps release plans from ICE for enforcement purposes.
4. If ICE arrests the person somewhere else, its Seattle Field Office, which covers Oregon, decides where they are held. ICE's Portland office is at 4310 S Macadam Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97239, 503-326-4165.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by name plus birth country, or by alien registration number (A-number).

A prison sentence sends the person to the Oregon Department of Corrections. Almost everyone starts at the Coffee Creek Intake Center at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, 24499 SW Grahams Ferry Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070. The intake process runs roughly 30 days. Next, men are moved to a long-term prison. Women remain in Wilsonville.

• Enter a name or the SID (State ID) number in the Oregon Offender Search.
• Call the Department of Corrections at 503-945-9090 with general questions.
• Find details on every state prison in our Oregon state prisons guide.

Jail time and Transition Center terms are served close to home. Here, the Sheriff's Office also supervises people on probation and post-prison supervision.

For kids ages 12 through 17, the county Juvenile Department and juvenile court take charge instead of the adult system. A youth who can't go home right away is taken to juvenile detention, 2970 Center Street NE, Salem, OR 97301, staffed around the clock at 503-588-5321. Teens are kept apart from the adult jail.

• Parents or guardians may visit once before the first court date, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., or right after court.
• Juvenile Court sits in the same building and answers at 503-566-2974.
• Since 2020, a Measure 11 charge no longer moves a 15- to 17-year-old into adult court on its own. Transfer now takes a judge's ruling after a waiver hearing (SB 1008).

Call detention to ask when the first hearing is and what the family should bring.