The Senate Committee on Judiciary on April 14 received testimony on House Bill 2463, which would clarify how the total amount in a small-claims action is calculated for purposes of determining whether the claim exceeds $750 and therefore permits a defendant to demand a jury trial.

Emily Templeton, representing the Oregon State Bar and appearing as a trial attorney from Multnomah County, said the bill is part of the Bars Law Improvement Program and would explicitly allow prejudgment or pre-award interest, fees, and costs to be counted in the total when the complaint identifies those amounts. Templeton said the change reflects existing judicial practice in Oregon courts and would make the statute clearer for defendants, many of whom proceed without counsel in small-claims court.

Chris Coghlan of Oregon Consumer Justice appeared in support and previewed a forthcoming amendment that would extend the defendants answer period in small-claims cases from 14 to 30 days to align with circuit-court practice. Coghlan cited data showing low answer rates in debt-collection small-claims filings and framed the proposed extension as an access-to-justice measure; he said stakeholders he contacted were supportive or neutral and that a written amendment and testimony would follow.

Committee members sought technical clarifications about the statutory text. Witnesses confirmed the bill would only allow the amount to be counted toward the $750 threshold if the complaint expressly included a request for prejudgment interest or other costs with specified amounts, so defendants would not be left to guess.

The committee closed the public hearing on House Bill 2463 after testimony from the Oregon State Bar and consumer-advocacy representatives; no committee vote was recorded at the hearing.