4 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2023 By Judge Kathie Steele Clackamas County Circuit Court When I started practicing law in Clackamas County in 1981, I often heard rumors about plans to build a new courthouse. It was deemed “pending.” Turns out, attorneys in our county had been promised that new courthouse since the 1960s. The current Clackamas County Courthouse was constructed in 1936, when our county had approximately 50,000 residents. It housed county officials and one solitary courtroom. Today, Clackamas County has approximately 445,000 residents and we have carved eleven courtrooms out of our original 1936 building. Expansion Best practices would dictate that we have 14 judges for our population, but we currently have nowhere to put them! Not having enough judges means delayed justice for civil and criminal cases. Delay means bulging caseloads, heartbreaking delays in trials, incarcerations and hearings. In addition, the current courthouse is obsolete and unable to technologically be updated. Lots of overtime hours are spent keeping the system running to a moderately acceptable degree. Wires run across courtroom floors. Our courthouse traffic patterns put folks both in and out of custody, victims, View From The Bench Hon. Kathie Steele A new courthouse for Clackamas County witnesses and opposing litigants right next to each other in hallways and courtrooms, creating both security and safety challenges. Jurors have no sequestration room on site, leaving them exposed to potentially improper communications (and the weather). Perhaps most importantly, the building is less than three feet away from a 100 foot dropoff into the Willamette River. It is sitting on soil that will liquify in the event of an earthquake. It is not attached to bedrock. A serious earthquake is predicted to inflict serious damage and present a risk of death for occupants. The building is very vulnerable. Over 140 people per day who work here are put at risk by working in this building, let alone the litigants, attorneys, witnesses and jurors. Everybody agrees it needs to be replaced. The problem has always been: How are we going to pay for it? Funding the future I became presiding judge for the Clackamas County Circuit Court in January 2019 and served for four years. During the 2017 Oregon legislative session, the state provided $1.2 million for courthouse planning. The county had prioritized working with the Legislature around funding for a new courthouse. Despite the fact that all the prior presiding judges were pessimistic that it could be done, we went to work. A coalition of elected county officers, judges, state lawmakers, city officials, local bar members, the sheriff’s office and the district attorney joined the effort. The county worked with the state to secure matching dollars to cover the project costs, so that residents would have an efficient, safe and financially responsible courthouse. The county invested millions to prepare for this significant project and the state provided additional millions. We visited city council and community meetings, and the Legislature (individuals and committees). I carried a picture of our location relative to the drop-off into the river and a yardstick to demonstrate how close we were to the cliff edge. We plastered the Legislature with yardsticks identified with the Clackamas County Courthouse. Note, the yardsticks were much lighter than the bricks Judge Nan Waller carted around to demonstrate why the Multnomah County Courthouse needed to be replaced. We provided tours for the legislators and county officials. Bottom line was the traditional method of getting in the state system “line” for financial assistance for a new courthouse was difficult. We did not expect our county voters to vote for a bond measure to replace it. Several counties were ahead of us in the line. Even though a newer statute allowed for the state to contribute to new and remodeled
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