Elected prosecutors expressed alarm after an Oregon Supreme Court decision this week that could result in the dismissal of more than 1,400 criminal cases.

“Our house is on fire,” Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton and Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez wrote Friday in a joint statement.

The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the state had violated the rights of defendants too poor to afford attorneys by charging them with crimes and not providing them timely legal representation.

In its unanimous decision, the court said a person’s criminal charges must be dismissed if the state has failed to provide a defense attorney after 60 days in a misdemeanor case or 90 days in a felony case, past the defendant’s first court appearance.

More than 900 cases in Multnomah County and another 260 in Washington County meet the criteria to be dismissed, according to the Oregon Judicial Department.

The district attorneys said this decision will “cause real harm to victims and the public.”

The crimes that could be dismissed range from drug trafficking to aggravated theft to strangulation, Vasquez and Barton said.

Both district attorneys say they respected the court’s decision and “agree that a defendant’s right to an attorney is essential.” But they also criticized the public defense system – one that’s primarily made up of attorneys and nonprofits that contract with the state to take cases.

“Excuses claiming too little money, too few attorneys, or too many criminal cases do not hold up on closer examination,” they wrote.

Vasquez, who took office last year, made waves after he said public defenders were engaged in a “work stoppage.” Prosecutors in Barton’s office have also unsuccessfully attempted to use the courts to get internal data from the Metropolitan Public Defender, the county’s largest public defense provider.

Carl Macpherson, executive director of the Metropolitan Public Defender, pushed back on prosecutors’ characterization of public defense.

“The fact we’ve had an unrepresented crisis for four years is horrific, I agree with that,” Macpherson told OPB Friday. “The issue many in public defense have and continue to have throughout the crisis is pointing the finger at public defenders — it’s misguided and unfair.”

Macpherson said the criminal legal system is “overburdened for everyone, not just public defenders but the prosecutors and the courts.”

Shaun McCrea, executive director for the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said in a statement Thursday that public defense “cannot do it alone” and that lawmakers needed to consider how expansion of the criminal justice system compounds the problem of too few criminal defense attorneys.

“We encourage public safety stakeholders to recognize the finite capacity of the justice system—including public defenders, courts, jails, and law enforcement – and to be better stewards of our scarce public safety resources," McCrea said.

About 2,500 people in Oregon are still without representation, though that number has been decreasing recently, according to the Oregon Judicial Department.

Last year, Oregon lawmakers passed a $704 million budget for the public defense system, a nearly 15% increase. They funded a total of 180 positions.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/06/washington-multnomha-county-prosecutors-oregon-supreme-court-ruling/