The AOC-OJD Court Facilities Task Force, kicking off on Oct. 17, calls for courthouse project proposals that will be recommended to Chief Justice Flynn for inclusion in her recommended budget for the 2027 legislative session. If your county plans to request state assistance for a courthouse project in the next few years, please plan on attending the task force meetings.
As many of you already know, the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) and the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) have combined forces in the past to organize and prioritize courthouse improvement and replacement projects across Oregon. Although providing court facilities is a county function, the state has been active in supporting court-related improvements and replacing unsafe courthouses.
In general, the projects fall into three categories:
- Planning funds (design, architecture, etc.) to replace courthouses
- Construction funds for replacement projects (typically funded through bonds)
- Improvements needed to support court services
We will need to complete our next round of prioritizations no later than April of 2026 in order to enable OJD to build the proposals into their budget options for the next biennium.
AOC President Shafer has selected Sherman County Judge Joe Dabulskis as the task force chair, and has authorized us to set the following dates and times for three task force meetings, which will be held in person at the AOC Office’s Hood Conference Room (2nd Floor) in Salem, Oregon (with a virtual attendance option).
Location for All Task Force Meetings:
- In-Person Attendees: AOC Hood Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 1212 Court St NE, Salem
- Virtual Attendees: Google Meet virtual options will be provided closer to the meeting dates
Meeting Dates and Topics (please hold these dates):
- Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Goal: OJD introduction and background on task force, review of past and current projects, review and approve project criteria, approve formal invitation for counties to submit new project proposals, and a Q&A period.
- Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Goal: Counties present requested projects to the task force, initial task for review and discussion, and request follow up information from requesting counties.
- Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Goal: Task force reviews follow up information, and discusses and prioritizes projects for recommendation to the chief justice.
Lastly, President Shafer encourages any AOC members willing to volunteer as voting members on the task force and help rank project proposals to please reach out to Justin Low. Typically, membership on the task force is limited to commissioners, judges, chairs, or officials from counties that are not requesting a courthouse replacement in the current cycle, and each county is limited to having one representative to serve on the task force. If AOC receives requests from multiple volunteers from a single county, AOC will notify those members and let that county internally decide who their representative will be.
Please see the following materials to help inform your task force engagement, and reach out if you have any questions.
List of courthouse project criteria
Task force summary document with completed and ongoing projects
Copy of the 2008 courthouse assessment ranking page
Contributed by: Justin Low | Legislative Affairs Manager