SALEM, OR -- Oregon’s Judicial Department is asking for feedback on the state’s circuit court system, later this month. 

"We’re just wanting to hear from folks about how they think we can make the state courts better," says OJD's Sarah Evans. She acknowledges most people are not interacting with the courts on their best day, "So, actually one of the topic areas that we’re going to discuss is how can we make our courthouses feel safer and more welcoming when you do need to come in? And that might be physical or emotional safety." 

The agency also wants to hear how circuit courts can be better at outreach, "How we can do a better job letting people know how the courts work; how can we do better getting ideas from the community?" 

They’ll also ask what the public thinks of administrative processes like forms and online tools. "And then a final topic, which actually applies to everybody," says Evans, "is jury duty: How can we make it easier for you to get to jury duty and actually serve, and make the courthouse experience better when you do come in?"

The goal is to hear from all types of people from every corner of Oregon, "In particular, if you’ve had experience with the court or used our court in the past year." Evans says county circuit courts have held similar conversations, but this is the first statewide effort, "The idea really is that even though each county has its own court and different parts of the state might do things differently, they’re still part of the overall Judicial Department. And we still all face the same issues and we’re providing the same types of services. So, any feedback that comes in here will definitely be helpful to all the courts." The input will also be used in a three-year state court strategic plan expected to be implemented in 2024.

The online public conversation is October 30th from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in both English and Spanish. Click HERE for more information.