A prosecutor’s job is to achieve justice: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Never should a prosecutor close a file and consider our work completed. If we become aware of an injustice related to a case we previously prosecuted, and there is a legal means available to us to undo the injustice, we must do so. The Oregon Legislature recognized this when they passed Senate Bill 819 in the 2020 legislature session (codified at Oregon Revised Statute 137.218)

ORS 137.218 authorizes a person convicted of a felony crime in Deschutes County, and the Deschutes County District Attorney, to jointly petition the Deschutes County Circuit Court for reconsideration of a conviction or sentence.

If a petition is submitted, ORS 137.218 grants the court the authority to dismiss the conviction, to resentence a person to a lesser sentence for the same crime of conviction, or to sentence a person for a new crime (if the DA files a new charging document and the defendant pleads guilty).

Our office will consider requests for sentence reconsideration for all eligible crimes (felonies, other than aggravated murder, that are not eligible for expunction) that are not currently on direct appeal. That having been said, convictions for crimes of child sex abuse and domestic violence will be approved for submission to a court in the rarest of circumstances.