No two criminal justice systems are the same from state to state. This article briefly examines Oregon’s criminal justice system, beginning with the Oregon prison population.

While criminal justice programs across the nation may seem overly complex and even unnecessarily complicated, it is possible to learn about them and summarize what works, what doesn’t work, and where positive change could be made.

Understanding Oregon criminal justice begins with answering the following questions:

• What criminal rehabilitation programs are used in Oregon?
• Are there alternatives to incarceration in Oregon?
• How many people are incarcerated in Oregon?
• What are the biggest prisons in Oregon?
• What is Oregon’s recidivism rate?
• What is Oregon’s crime rate?

Critically, one should begin by viewing the Oregon prison population and incarceration rate, as these metrics will determine the criminal justice system’s involvement in the lives of Oregon residents. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Oregon has the 24th highest incarceration rate in the nation, meaning almost half the country is ahead of it in incarceration, and half the country is behind it. According to the data, Oregon incarcerates 310 residents for every 100,000 living in the state, just behind Tennessee at 314 per 100,000 and just ahead of South Carolina at 298 per 100,000. The overall U.S. incarceration rate is 350 per 100,000.¹

According to the National Institute of Corrections, Oregon has 36 jails in 36 counties. The jail population in 2019 was 7,100. The state also manages 14 state prisons that hold about 14,961 inmates. While the jail population is mostly individuals serving short sentences for nonviolent offenses or simply awaiting trial in a pretrial detention scenario, individuals in Oregon’s prisons usually serve longer sentences for more serious crimes. In addition to jails and prisons, Oregon has a Community Corrections program, which is responsible for 35,732 people under probation and 23,832 people under parole.²

The State of Oregon manages all aspects of its Department of Corrections, with 4,613 employees and an annual budget of $1,872,870,000. By spending $42,664 per year per inmate, Oregon has one of the nation’s most expensive criminal justice systems, suggesting that it should have one of the lowest recidivism rates (more on that later). According to the Urban Institute, Oregon spends nearly $500 per state resident on its Department of Corrections. The state’s DOC is the seventh costliest item in Oregon’s annual budget.³

Oregon does not currently contract with private prisons and has not done so since before the 21st century. In fact, Oregon passed a law in 2001 that made it illegal for the state to export prisoners to prisons in other states. The Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) is the largest prison in Oregon, with 2,336 medium-security beds, 154 minimum-security beds, and 510 Special Housing beds. The prison also has beds for administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation, intensive management, and an infirmary for injured and sick prisoners.⁴

What does crime in Oregon look like? According to federal data collected by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Oregon records about 9,000–10,000 violent crimes yearly. The state reports around 100 murders annually, 1,500–3,500 rapes and sexual assaults, and 2,000–3,000 robberies. The most common violent crime, aggravated assault, occurs to the tune of 5,000–6,000 offenses per year.⁵

According to state data, Oregon law enforcement performs about 100,000 to 150,000 arrests yearly, with reported offenses at 200,000–300,000 annually. Unfortunately, Oregon’s data suggest that the murder rate is higher than the federally reported data, with law enforcement recording 119 murders in 2020, 181 in 2021, and 127 in 2022.⁶

Even though Oregon spends a little more than $40,000 per inmate per year, the state criminal justice system is not as effective as it should be. This is understood through Oregon’s relatively high recidivism rate, which measures the percentage of Oregon offenders who re-offend after completing a prison sentence.

According to a 2018 Oregon Criminal Justice Commission report, about 55% of offenders are arrested for a new crime within the three years following their release from prison. About 40% of offenders are arrested and convicted of a new misdemeanor or felony following release from prison. About 20% are reincarcerated on felony charges within three years of being released.⁷

This data suggests that, while Oregon is going to impressive lengths to reform offenders by spending a great deal of money on its criminal justice system, the criminal reform methods being used are not going far enough or providing enough services to offenders to truly help them become rehabilitated, law-abiding, responsible, contributing members of society.

What does Oregon’s criminal justice reform look like? As mentioned, the state has invested a great deal in reforming prisoners. But the Oregon recidivism rate is still high, suggesting that the state should implement evidence-based reforms. The programs look different state-to-state, but they should fall into these categories:

• addiction treatment programs for Oregon offenders who misused drugs and alcohol
• job skills programs and work release to help offenders learn valuable trades for post-incarceration
• hands-on programs that teach life skills and coping strategies to help offenders live crime-free lives

The Oregon Department of Corrections manages the state’s Alternatives to Incarceration Program (AIP), which provides intensive treatment to criminals without incarcerating them in prison. Much of the state’s AIP programming revolves around efforts to help nonviolent offenders who have committed drug possession crimes or alcohol-related offenses. Some offenders already in prison can enroll in the AIP program to help them overcome the underlying issues and personal crises that led them to crime.⁸

While Oregon has, in many ways, been leading the nation in shifting the narrative around drug possession, substance abuse, and addiction as a health crisis and not a criminal inclination (and adjusting its criminal justice approach as such), the state should work to implement more educational programs for prisoners in Oregon. Such programs should be made available for drug offenders and non-drug offenders alike.