Eugene Municipal Court Becomes Court of Record April 6, 2026

For years, City Attorney Kathryn Brotherton told the Eugene City Council, the idea had been weighed and shelved: the cost of in-room court reporters made a municipal court of record impractical. Technology brought it back. Starting Monday, April 6, Eugene Municipal Court will operate as a court of record, a shift that Municipal Court Administrator Sarah Callegari says will fundamentally change how appeals work for anyone who appears at 1102 Lincoln Street.

The most consequential change is the elimination of de novo appeals. Under the old system, losing at municipal court and appealing meant a complete restart in Lane County Circuit Court, with no reference to what had happened in the original proceeding. "Previously, a person who wanted an appeal would need to go through a whole new trial with Lane County," Callegari said. City officials described that process as resource-intensive and said it undermined the finality of municipal court decisions.

Beginning April 6, the court will maintain verbatim audio recordings or transcripts of all proceedings, as mandated by Oregon Revised Statute 221.342(4). Appeals will be based on that official record and will bypass Lane County Circuit Court, going directly to the Oregon Court of Appeals, the same path used by circuit court decisions.

The timing was driven in part by Oregon House Bill 2460, effective January 1, 2026, which gave defendants pleading not guilty to state misdemeanors in non-court-of-record cities the right to transfer their cases to circuit court. In Eugene, that meant people charged with code violations punishable by up to a year in jail could shift their cases to Lane County. Becoming a court of record eliminates that option and keeps cases in municipal court.

The Eugene City Council voted unanimously in February to pass the enabling ordinance, with no public testimony at the hearing. The court then closed for an all-staff training day on March 6 in preparation for the transition, resuming business March 9. The statute also raises the standard for judges: ORS 221.342(6) requires that any judge serving a court of record be a licensee of the Oregon State Bar. Implementation costs are estimated at $350,000 to $500,000, with funding requests slated for the city's summer supplemental budget.

For anyone with a ticket or pending case after April 6, the practical consequences are significant. Hearings will be recorded, creating a verbatim record available to defendants, their attorneys, and the public. Any appeal will no longer require relitigating the case in a new Lane County trial; it proceeds on the documentary record directly to the Court of Appeals. Defense attorneys representing clients in city code violations should confirm whether pending cases will proceed under the new framework. The court at 541-682-5400 can answer scheduling and records questions.

Eugene joins Florence, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, and Milwaukie as Oregon cities with municipal courts of record, a status that remains relatively uncommon statewide. Springfield is expected to follow, with Brotherton indicating the neighboring city had a target ordinance date of around March 15. "Becoming a court of record is a positive change that will benefit community members by creating a formal record of proceedings and allowing reviews by appellate courts," Callegari said.