Contact for Media Requests
Media Request Form:
Submit the request form via email to:
This inbox is monitored by:
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Technical Support Staff – for assistance with the Media Switching Room and Parking Lot Media Connection
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Operations Staff – for processing the Media Request Form and routing it to the appropriate judge and judicial staff for review and approval
Advance Notice Requested:
If you are requesting to use either the Media Switching Room or the Parking Lot Media Connection, please provide at least 24 hours’ notice whenever possible.
Thank you for helping us maintain an open and respectful courtroom environment while ensuring the integrity of court proceedings.
If you still have questions after reviewing the
Frequently Asked Questions below, please contact:
Debbie Spradley, Trial Court Administrator
Phone: 503-655-8670
Frequently Asked Questions
One request form is valid for the entire proceeding scheduled that day when multiple cases are specified (e.g., if there is more than one arraignment of interest, you do not need to make multiple requests, but can note the cases of interest on the single form for that day).
If approved, the response will include a link to the remote session. To support the permission process, these links will not be posted prospectively.
If approved, once you join the remote session, you must participate with your camera and microphone off (you will not be seen or heard during the remote proceeding, except for the appearance of an icon or image).
Remote access will only be allowed for proceedings that are otherwise offered remotely (if the proceeding is entirely in-person, the court will not add remote access).
Yes. Public access coverage is not permitted in any of the proceedings found in UTCR 3.180(9), which is as follows:
- Proceedings in chambers.
- Any notes or conversations intended to be private including, but not limited to, counsel and judges at the bench and conferences involving counsel and their clients.
- Dissolution, juvenile, paternity, adoption, custody, visitation, support, civil commitment, trade secrets, and abuse, restraining and stalking order proceedings.
- At a victim’s request, sex offense proceedings.
- Voir dire.
- Any juror anywhere during the course of the trial in which he or she sits.
- Recesses.
These connections are available in
Courtrooms 4A, 5A, and 6A. Please email
CLA.Media.Requests@ojd.state.or.us at least 24 hours in advance whenever possible to coordinate use with Technical Support Staff. Training is available upon request.
The judge presiding over the hearing/trial is the only person who can approve media presence in a courtroom for a hearing or trial. Contact the judge’s office. If you do not know who the correct judge is to contact, call the Calendaring Office at
503-655-8643, select option 2.
Yes. The main entrance at the front of the courthouse is the only public entry point.
Yes, the video camera must be mounted on a tripod or other device or installed in the courtroom.
No. Grand Jury spaces are not public. You may wait in the public hallway outside.
The court, in its discretion pursuant to UTCR 3.180(2) and 3.180(4), may permit additional public access coverage equipment, provided that:
- The additional equipment does not interfere with the rights of the parties to a fair trial or affect the presentation of evidence or outcome of the trial; and
- Any cost or increased burden resulting from the additional public access coverage does not interfere with the efficient administration of justice.
No. Interviews inside the courthouse require approval from the Presiding Judge. Interviews inside a courtroom require approval from the judge presiding over the hearing (UTCR 3.180, SLR 3.181).
Not without permission. Pursuant to
SLR 3.181, prior authorization must be obtained in order to take photographs or videos in all courthouse public space. For permission to use cameras on court facility premises, but not in a courtroom, you must contact the Office of the Presiding Judge. This restriction applies to all court facilities in the Fifth Judicial District – the Courthouse, Juvenile Court, and the Ralph M. Holman Law Center.
Yes. Coverage is prohibited for proceedings listed in UTCR 3.180(9), including:
- In-chambers proceedings
- Private counsel/judge conversations
- Juvenile, dissolution, paternity, custody, visitation, adoption, civil commitment, trade secrets, abuse, restraining order and stalking order proceedings and similar matters
- Voir dire and juror appearances anywhere during the trial in which he or she sits
- Sex offense proceedings (if requested by the victim)
- Recesses
The Court’s authority under Uniform Trial Court Rule (UTCR) 3.180 and Supplemental Local Rule (SLR) 3.181 applies only to court-controlled space within a court facility or on Clackamas County owned premises that include access points to such a facility. This includes the courthouse steps, but does not include the public sidewalk.
Here is some general guidance:
- Cameras must be mounted on a tripod
- It is possible for there to be more than one camera in the courtroom, but it must be approved by the judge presiding over the hearing (UTCR 3.180(2), (4)).
- If you want to move your camera position, please make this request of the judge presiding over the matter during a court recess. Do not move equipment without permission. In public areas, follow assigned placement and if needed, seek permission of the Presiding Judge to change it.
No. All public access coverage must be visible and transparent.
The judge presiding over the hearing/case can give you permission to tweet or live blog from inside the courtroom. Call the judge’s office in advance of the hearing and obtain written permission for this activity. Court staff and Sheriff’s Deputies are trained to enforce the court rule regarding turning communication devices off and will enforce the prohibition against using such devices during court proceedings under SLR 3.185.
No. The court does not facilitate juror interviews.
Tweeting and blogging from the hallway outside the courtroom is not restricted and you may do so. This permission does not extend to using photo, video, or the recording feature of devices, absent first obtaining permission as provided under SLR 3.181.
Call the judge’s office. The judge's staff may personally answer or request an answer from the judge. Bear in mind that judges are restricted from commenting on pending matters in the court, and can be subject to discipline for doing so.
- Courtroom requests are routed to the assigned judge.
- Common space or remote access requests are routed to the Presiding Judge.
You may request a new camera position if you are in a trial or hearing. It is the judge’s discretion whether you will be permitted to move the camera, but it is appropriate to make the request. Wait until the next break in court proceedings to make the request. Never attempt to move your position without prior approval or while court is in session. Wait for a recess, get permission, and make the move before the court session resumes.
When filming in the public spaces, there is more flexibility, but if you have been given an assigned spot, do not stray from it without permission to do so. There are public areas of the courthouse where photo or video is never permitted to protect jurors or vulnerable users of the court’s services, and a change in position without permission may compromise those safeguards and lead to a temporary exclusion of your station having any public access coverage.
Not without prior authorization from the Presiding Judge (SLR 3.181).
The key rules are UTCR 3.180, SLR 3.181, and SLR 3.185. Other than those rules, any judge presiding over a proceeding may put into place additional orders regarding the media and the public access to the proceeding in order to maintain proper decorum and the effective administration of justice during the proceeding. A judge will be quick to let you know if there is a special order regarding the trial or hearing for which you have requested public access coverage.
Yes. Court authority extends only to court-controlled interior spaces (UTCR 3.180).
A: No. The space allocated to the Grand Jury is not public space in the Courthouse; it is private space. You may not enter these spaces absent an invitation or a summons to appear before the Grand Jury. You may wait in the public hallway of the courthouse outside of the Grand Jury’s hearing and witness waiting room.
No, public access coverage if granted in the courtrooms or in the public places in the courthouse must be openly done, with cameras and microphones visible to the parties to the proceeding, to the witnesses, and to the public.
You may, as follows:
- Within the courtroom - only with written permission from the presiding judge (SLR 3.185).
- From within the courthouse but outside of a courtroom – you may, but video, photo, or audio recording is still subject to prior approval under SLR 3.181.