Oregon circuit courts

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Oregon's circuit courts are general jurisdiction trial courts of the U.S. state of Oregon. These courts hear civil and criminal court cases.

The state has 27 circuit court districts, most of which correspond to the boundaries of Oregon's 36 counties. The sixth, seventh, tenth, fifteenth, twenty-second and twenty-fourth districts cover two or more counties while the rest cover just one county each.

The courts are operated by the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD). As of January 2007, the courts had 173 judges. The majority of appeals from the circuit courts go to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Some limited cases go directly to the Oregon Supreme Court if appealed from the trial court level.^[1]

In 2010, Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz issued an order creating the statewide Oregon Complex Litigation Court within the circuit courts.^[2]

The OJD has no jurisdiction over other local courts in Oregon, which include county courts,^[3] justice courts,^[4][5] and municipal courts.^[1][6]

In 1998, the state combined its state district courts into the Oregon circuit courts.^[7]