February 4, 2025
Effective Tuesday, February 4th, in an effort to improve efficiency and effectiveness, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office merged two internal offices that handled misdemeanor cases. The Misdemeanor Intake Unit is now folded into the Misdemeanor Trial Unit. The move is designed to give a single prosecutor ownership of each case. This will impact all new non-domestic violence misdemeanor cases.
Going forward, when a deputy issues a case they will have ownership of it and the responsibility to inform, communicate with and coordinate with the victim, law enforcement, and defense until the case is resolved.
Before the change, deputies worked hard on cases but there was no individual ownership of cases or victims. The system forced a single case to bounce from deputy to deputy and over time be handled by as many as 5 or 6 deputies. That process created a frustrating lack of coordination with our victims and too many opportunities for important details of cases to fall through the cracks.
District Attorney Nathan Vasquez announced the change:
“I believe this will make us more efficient, reduce confusion among defense attorneys who will no longer have to deal with multiple deputies on one case, and, most importantly, provide our victims and community with higher quality service. It should not be a confusing and frustrating experience to seek justice as the victim of a misdemeanor crime.”