Contact Information
Judge Williams' Judicial Assistant: 
Phone: 541-243-7822
Email:
BentonLAWScheduling@ojd.state.or.us
NOTE: No document can be "filed" officially with the court by emailing or faxing it to a judge or member of a judge's staff.
Avoid Ex Parte Contact
Judges cannot receive communication from lawyers and self-represented litigants unless that communication is simultaneously provided to all other litigants or their lawyers.
Emailing Judge Williams Directly
Please do not send emails to Judge Williams directly. Emails to the judge should be sent to his judicial assistant at
BentonLAWScheduling@ojd.state.or.us. Any email sent must clearly show that copies were simultaneously sent to all other litigants or their lawyers or it cannot be read by Judge Williams.
Faxes Sent to Judge Williams
You must first contact Judge Williams’ judicial assistant before sending a fax transmission. Judge Williams and his judicial assistant do not have a stand-alone fax machine in their office so faxes sent without first contacting the judicial assistant may not be delivered to Judge Williams. There is a 10 page limit to the length of documents that can be sent by fax.
Important Documents
Judge Williams’ Biography
Judge Locke A. Williams was appointed to serve as a Circuit Court Judge in March 2002 by Governor John Kitzhaber. He was elected to retain that position in May 2002. He was re-elected in 2008, 2014 and again in 2020. His current term expires on January 4, 2027.
Judge Williams served as the Presiding Judge for the 21st Judicial District from January 2006 through December 2013, and from January 2019 through December 2023. He is a member of the Oregon State Bar and the Linn-Benton Bar Association. In addition to his general jurisdiction duties at the court, Judge Williams also serves as the Juvenile Judge for the 21st Judicial District. He continues to serve on numerous local and state-wide judiciary committees, including the Oregon Judicial Leadership and Education Committee, the Odyssey Change Control Workgroup, the Odyssey Data and Reports Committee, the Oregon Judges Charitable Fund, and the Benton County Family Law Advisory Committee.
Judge Williams grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where he graduated high school. He received his BBA degree from the University of Texas-Arlington in 1984, and his JD degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1987.