Judge rules in favor of public defense firm suing Oregon to fight the state’s caseloads

OREGON CITY, Ore. (KGW) — A Clackamas County judge struck down a provision in a new contract between the state of Oregon and public defense firms Friday evening, in a significant rebuke to the state agency in charge of managing those contracts.

Public Defender of Marion County won a victory in its suit against the Oregon Public Defense Commission, with the judge ruling a provision in the state’s public defense contract is unconstitutional.

“It means that (public defenders) get to continue to provide client-centered representation,” said Shannon Wilson, executive director of PDMC.

Wilson said their firm couldn't sign the new contract the OPDC proposed, and instead filed a complaint to see it tossed out.

“It asked us to just ignore our current clients and to neglect their needs and agree to blindly take on an additional however many cases based on your qualifications per month,” Wilson said. “I couldn't agree to that because that would essentially ask us to be negligent.”

The lawsuit claimed the contract would function like a case quota system, and could limit the constitutional rights of low-income defendants who rely on public defenders. 

Earlier this year, Governor Tina Kotek appointed a new leader for the Oregon Public Defense Commission, tasking him with fixing the state's backlog of underrepresented defendants.

The new plan allows attorneys who have extra capacity to take on more cases than the current maximum guidelines of 300 misdemeanor cases per year, and seeks to enforce contract requirements with public defense firms more strictly.

According to the latest numbers from the OPDC, Oregon does appear to finally be turning the corner on its crisis of unrepresented defendants, dipping below 3,000 — the lowest number since May 2024.

But Wilson and their attorneys argued that the state's contract, as currently constructed, would pressure attorneys to accept more cases than they could ethically handle.

“What this became to us is the state forcing public defenders to make a choice,” said Wilson’s attorney Josh Krumholz. “Either keep a job, put food on the table or stand up for your ethical obligations.”

Friday, a judge in Clackamas County assigned to the case ruled that a provision of the contract — one that could penalize a public defense firm for exceeding its ethical caseload — violates the Oregon Constitution.

The court voided and removed that provision.

“The court fulfilled its essential responsibility, to make sure that our criminal justice system, particularly as it applies to indigent defendants, is just, fair, ethical, and constitutional,” Krumholz said. “It was a really good day for this state.”

The state tried to argue that Wilson and PDMC did not have standing because they had not signed the state's contract, but the judge did not agree with that assessment.

Wilson said they now plan to sign the new contract. The OPDC declined to comment.

While presiding Judge Michael Wetzel ruled from the bench in the case, his order granting a preliminary injunction — which will provide further details about the ruling — has not yet been written and filed.

KGW digital producer Jamie Parfitt contributed to this story.