The Public Safety Subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means acknowledged receipt of the Oregon Department of Justice report on non‑unanimous jury conviction caseloads on Monday, April 21, 2025.

The Department of Justice presented the report prepared under Senate Bill 5,514 (2023), which asked DOJ to provide trial and appellate division caseload and cost projections related to convictions affected by recent federal and state court decisions. Kristen Boyd, deputy chief counsel of the trial division, said, “Since the decisions in Ramos and Watkins, the Department of Justice has received more than 1,000 challenges to the validity of criminal convictions based on those decisions.”

Why it matters: The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ramos v. Louisiana required unanimous jury verdicts in criminal trials, and the Oregon Supreme Court’s decision in Watkins v. Ackley applied Ramos retroactively to previously adjudicated cases. Those rulings triggered large volumes of post‑conviction and appellate filings that affect trial and appellate workloads and costs.

DOJ said the appellate division had received “over 700 cases” and the trial division “over 850 cases,” with the trial division reporting 98 cases remaining that were challenged under Ramos/Watkins; that set of 98 includes eight petitions filed after the December 30, 2024 filing deadline established under Senate Bill 321, the report said. Ben Gutman, solicitor general and head of the appellate division, told the subcommittee, “My expectation is that at this point, the direct criminal appeals are largely resolved.”

DOJ staff explained that some petitions continue to be filed despite statutory deadlines and that litigation will continue while courts decide whether late petitions are timely. The department also said case volumes peaked in the years immediately following Ramos and that pending caseloads, while lower than their peak, remain “elevated.”

Committee action: The Department of Administrative Services Chief Financial Office and the Legislative Fiscal Office both recommended acknowledging receipt of the report. Representative Lewis moved to approve the LFO recommendation; the motion passed with no roll‑call recorded in the transcript and was carried to the full committee.

The subcommittee closed its work session on the non‑unanimous reconviction caseload report and moved on to other DOJ reports.