On May 5 the House Committee on Judiciary held a public hearing on Senate Bill 275A, which would modify Oregon's organized retail theft grant program, make the Department of Justice an eligible grant recipient in addition to local law enforcement, remove the Department of State Police and community-based organizations as grantees, and require a report to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission by Sept. 1, 2027.

Amanda Dalton, president of the Northwest Grocery Retail Association, told the committee the program was funded with $5 million last cycle and that the funds were distributed statewide to law enforcement grants. Derek Singston of Oregon Business and Industry described organized retail theft as a significant issue for retailers and cited national and state estimates of economic loss, attributing the figures to a retail-industry report.

Leslie Wu, policy adviser to Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a representative of the Oregon Department of Justice, said DOJ currently has two special agents and one criminal intelligence analyst assigned to organized retail theft work. Wu said DOJ personnel have assisted enforcement agencies 53 times across 14 counties and that those efforts led to over 70 arrests and recovery of about $640,000 in property.

Testimony explained the bill would clarify that grants may be used to buy law-enforcement equipment and provided examples such as digital forensics stations, trackers and surveillance cameras; DOJ witnesses said DOJ is equipped to house and maintain such equipment for multiagency investigations.

Proponents said the bill has been narrowed to focus on grant administration and that related public-safety provisions are expected to be folded into a separate omnibus package. There was no committee vote during this hearing; the hearing was closed and the committee moved on to other business. Testimony noted the Senate floor record for SB 275A showed 26 ayes and 0 nays.

Committee members asked where the economic-loss estimates came from and whether figures were annual; witnesses attributed the national totals to the National Retail Federation and said the figures referenced a recent year in that report. Witnesses stressed the grant funding aims to support coordinated, statewide responses and equipment needs for multiagency operations.