Court Records - Home

PUBLIC NOTICE: To serve a copy of a notice of appeal on the trial court administrator and the transcript coordinator for this court, under Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure 1.35(2)(e), use the following email address: MUL.transcript.coordinator@ojd.state.or.us

Audio Recordings

Multnomah County Circuit Court records proceedings digitally.

We can provide copies of the recordings on compact disk (CD) media. Requests for non-confidential recordings may be made via phone, mail, e-mail, or in person in Room 03315 (File Room).
Costs to receive audio:

$9.00 for emailed audio of the case
$10.00 per cd for a regular copy of the case
$15.00 per cd for a certified copy of the case
$3.00 extra for mailing a CD

You can also email your request to mul.records@ojd.state.or.us. Please include in your email:

Judge's name
The case number
The date of the hearing
How you would like to receive your audio

Please allow about one week for the CD to be prepared.

If you need a written transcript, you can take your recording to a certified transcriber. Find a list of transcribers or court reporters by searching online.

What is a regular, certified, and exemplified copy?

Staff cannot give advice to a customer on what level of certification they may need for a document. Here is a general guideline for level of certification:

Copies are electronic images (TIFF, PDF) or photocopies of any document in the file or an audio recording.
Certified Copies are photocopies of a filed document in its entirety (everything within a staple) that is sworn to be a true copy by a Court Clerk. The certified copy should not be taken apart. If the staple is removed the certification becomes invalid.
Exemplified Copy, also called a 3-Way Certificate, is a photocopy of a pleading in its entirety that’s authenticity is sworn to by the Court Clerk. The signature of the Court Clerk is sworn to by the Presiding Judge then the Court Clerk swears to the authenticity of the Judge’s signature. It takes a few extra days to process an exemplified copy request.

Helpful Links

Police Reports are not maintained by the court. Please contact the responding or arresting law enforcement agency, such as:

Vital Records (Marriage, Birth, or Death Records) are not maintained by the court. Please contact the Oregon Center for Health Statistics for these records.

Land Deeds are not maintained by the court. You will need to contact the Multnomah County Recorder’s Office for the records of deeds.

File Review Requests

Request copies of documents from court files in Room 03315 (File Room).

The costs are as follows:

$0.25 per page, also applies to certified and exemplified copies(a double-sided copy is two pages)
$5.00 for a certified copy
$10.00 for an exemplified copy

The Records Department only accepts payment by credit or debit card (Visa/Mastercard only). Contact us for directions on how to use other methods for payment (Cash, check, etc.)

Document Copies from Court Files - Requests via Mail

Records Request Form (pdf 43 KB)
You are required to submit this information with your mailed in requests for copies.

Case name and Circuit Court case number;
List of document(s) you want copied and whether certification and/or exemplification is requested and for which documents;
Self-addressed, stamped envelope large enough to return the copies to you;
Check to cover the cost of copies, payable to the State of Oregon or contact our department to pay by card.

If payment or any necessary information is missing your request may be returned to you. For mailing address details see Contact Information page. Please allow at least four weeks for copies to be mailed to you.

How do I request an audio of a hearing?

Multnomah County Circuit Court audio records proceedings digitally, and can provide copies of the recordings on compact disk (CD) media or via a secure email. You may request copies of these audio recordings from the Records Department.

State law restricts who may receive audio copies of hearings and trials for some case types such as adoptions and juvenile cases. If you are requesting an audio copy from a restricted (confidential) case type, your request may be denied or you may be required to complete additional paperwork, show identification and pick up the copies in person.

Copies of audio recordings will be electronically transferred using digital technology through a secure website. The court uses a digital recording system called “For The Record” (FTR), which is a proprietary system. To play the recordings you will need the free FTR Player. Court staff cannot assist you if you encounter problems with downloading the FTR Player. If you encounter technical difficulties with the FTR Player, you will need to contact technical support at FTR.

Requests for non-confidential recordings may be made by:

Mail: Please give all the information listed above in your Audio Copy Request form. Also please state how you would like to make payment, via phone or mail. A records staff person will contact you with any questions and/or your payment options after we receive your mail request.
In Person: Counter requests can be made in Room 03315, during regular business hours.
Phone: We may be able to complete the request by the end of the call.

The costs are as follows:

$10 per CD for a regular recording;
$15 for a certified recording; and
$9.00 for an emailed audio of the recording;
an additional $3.00 if you would like the CD mailed to you.

Please allow 5 business days for acknowledgement or completion, and up to another 10 business days after acknowledgement for the CD or email to be prepared.

How do I request a records search?

Records Search Options

1) You can use the Online Record Searchfor free access to limited case information.

2) Records Request form in order to process your request as quickly as possible:

Full name to search
If criminal case, please provide date of birth and/or date of conviction
The approximate year of the filing of the case
Searches for cases before 1992 need the date of conviction or date of arrest to perform a records search. If you do not have that information you can contact the arresting agency to get this information.
Cases before 1992 will most likely be on microfiche, microfilm, or paper ledgers. These requests will take longer to complete due to the media format.

Adoption and Juvenile cases are confidential. Access to these cases is limited. For information about requesting copies from an adoption case, please see the Guardianships & Adoption page. To request copies from a Juvenile case please contact the Juvenile Justice Center.

State law allows us to charge fees to recover our costs for providing public records. We charge:

$0.25 per page, also applies to certified and exemplified copies
a double-sided copy is two pages)
$5.00 for a certified copy
$10.00 for an exemplified copy
$3.00 per case for an emailed document (cannot be certified or exemplified)

We may charge additional amounts for our costs for complex requests. This includes time we spend to:

Locate, compile, and sort requested records.
(Even if we find no records or if the records we do find are exempt from disclosure)
Review requested records and redact any exempt material
Copy requested records
Return documents to files
Supervise inspection by the requestor
Do necessary research
Time we spend preparing correspondence related to your request
Prepare correspondence related to your request
Make special copies and mail non standard sized documents or very large requests

Prepare correspondence related to your request

Make special copies and mail non standard sized documents or very large requests

How do I request a copy of a document(s)?

For all document requests you need to have the case number, name of the document(s) you are requesting a copy of, and the filing date of the document(s). If you do not have this information you can use the Online Record Search to find the case number and file date. Also please let us know if you need a regular copy, certified, or exemplified copy of the document(s).

You can contact the court with any of the following methods:

Mail: Please give all the information listed above in your Records Request Form. Also please state how you would like to make payment, via phone or mail. After receiving your mail request, records staff may contact you with payment options
In Person: Counter requests can be made in Room 03315, during regular business hours.

Some documents requested can be returned via email if you are requesting a regular copy. Certified or Exemplified copies will either need to be picked up from our Records department or mailed to you.

Failure to include all the necessary information or payment may result in your request being returned to you. For mailing address details see the Contact & Location Information. We are able to accept the following forms of payment:

Credit or Debit card (Visa/Discover/MasterCard),
Personal check,
Cashier check,
Money Order, or
Cash.

Please do not send cash or credit card info in the mail.
State law allows us to charge fees to recover our costs for providing public records. We charge:

$0.25 per page, also applies to certified and exemplified copies
a double-sided copy is two pages)
$5.00 for a certified copy
$10.00 for an exemplified copy
$3.00 per case for an emailed document (cannot be certified or exemplified)

We may charge additional amounts for our costs for complex requests. This includes time we spend to:

Locate, compile, and sort requested records.
(Even if we find no records or if the records we do find are exempt from disclosure)
Review requested records and redact any exempt material
Copy requested records
Return documents to files
Supervise inspection by the requestor
Do necessary research
Time we spend preparing correspondence related to your request
Prepare correspondence related to your request
Make special copies and mail non standard sized documents or very large requests