Oregon Court Records: OJCIN, the Free Alternative, and Setting Aside a Conviction

This article covers how to search Oregon court records through the state's paid subscription service and its free alternative, what's public under Oregon's court rules, and how Oregon's set-aside relief works. It does not cover other states; for those, see the Court Records by State hub.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Search Oregon Court Records

Oregon is one of the few states in this cluster where the full statewide search sits behind a subscription rather than being free to the public. The paid service is OJCIN OnLine, which stands for Oregon eCourt Case Information Network, and it includes two components: OECI, the case-information network itself, and ACMS, the Appellate Case Management System. The Oregon Judicial Department's own page describes OJCIN OnLine as a paid subscription resource covering court case information from all 36 of Oregon's circuit courts, plus the Tax Court and Appellate courts, spanning civil, small claims, tax, domestic, and criminal cases, including misdemeanors and felonies.

To use it, you create an OJCIN OnLine account, sign a Terms of Use Agreement, and complete a Customer Information Form. Cost is where the sourcing gets genuinely messy: the OJCIN page itself states a $170 setup fee, while a separate fee-schedule document is reported elsewhere as listing $160, with monthly subscription tiers reported to range roughly from the mid-double digits to well over a thousand dollars depending on volume, plus a per-user-profile charge. Given the disagreement between sources, treat any specific number here as a starting estimate rather than a quote, and confirm the current fee schedule directly with the Oregon Judicial Department before committing.

The same OJCIN page links a Free Records Search, a no-cost alternative for basic court-record and calendar lookups. Its exact coverage compared to the full paid tier, meaning whether it shows a narrower index-only view or omits certain case types, was not independently confirmed for this article; if a free search comes back empty, that is not proof a record does not exist; it may mean the free tier simply does not show everything OJCIN does.

What's Public and What's Restricted

Oregon's public-records law, ORS Chapter 192, gives every person a right to inspect a public record of a public body, a definition that includes the courts. That right is not absolute. Oregon's Uniform Trial Court Rules require courts to segregate certain confidential personal information, submitted on a Confidential Information Form, from the rest of a case file that is otherwise open to public inspection; access to that segregated form is limited to the person who filed it unless a requester has an independent legal right to see it. The Oregon Supreme Court has also recognized narrower, case-specific limits on access, including protecting the identity of victims of child sexual abuse in some circumstances. In practice, that means a case file can be partly public and partly withheld at the same time, rather than open or closed as a whole.

Setting Aside a Conviction in Oregon

Oregon's own statutory language does not use the word expungement. The relevant provision, ORS 137.225, is titled around an order setting aside a conviction, contempt finding, or record of a criminal charge, and that is the term Oregon's own courts and statutes use for this relief.

Sealing is part of that relief rather than a label Oregon avoids. Once the court grants the motion, ORS 137.225 directs it to issue an order sealing the record of conviction and other official records in the case, including the records of arrest, citation, or charge. Other Oregon statutes use sealing language directly as well, including ORS 144.655, which covers a request to seal the records of a pardoned conviction. Related, narrower provisions cover specific situations, including vacating a prostitution-related judgment, reducing certain marijuana convictions, and sealing enforcement records tied to a drug-related misdemeanor.

Oregon does not appear to have adopted an automatic Clean Slate law; relief generally still requires filing a motion with the court. This article covers the concept, not your specific eligibility or wait period. For those details, see Oregon Expungement Laws.

Certified Copies and Practical Search Tips

Because Oregon's deepest search sits behind OJCIN's paywall, a one-off lookup for a single case may be cheaper and simpler through the free alternative or by contacting the circuit court clerk directly, rather than paying an OJCIN setup fee for a single search. Certified copies come from the clerk of the court where the case was filed; exact fees were not confirmed for this article and should be checked directly with that court.

Using This Information the Right Way

Oregon's paid-subscription model is sometimes marketed by aggregators as a reason to use a third-party "Oregon court records" search site instead. Be cautious there: a site that resells or scrapes OJCIN data is not the same as the official source, and using any aggregator's results for employment or tenant screening is not Fair Credit Reporting Act compliant on its own. Treat a search, whichever tool you use, as a personal-use lookup rather than a screening product.

Related reading: Court Records by State, How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Oregon Background Check Laws, Oregon Warrant Search, and Oregon Public Records Laws for records held by executive-branch agencies rather than the courts.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about Oregon court records, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Portal names, coverage, and fee information reflect their published status as of the verification date above and can change without notice. For advice about a specific case, set-aside eligibility, or a specific record, consult a lawyer licensed in Oregon.

Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Oregon's court records search free?

The full statewide search, OJCIN OnLine, is a paid subscription covering all circuit courts plus the Tax and Appellate courts. The Oregon Judicial Department also links a free, narrower Records Search for basic lookups at no cost.

How much does OJCIN cost to set up?

Sources disagree: the Judicial Department's own OJCIN page states a $170 setup fee, while a separately cited fee schedule lists $160, on top of monthly subscription tiers. Confirm the current figure directly with the Oregon Judicial Department before paying.

What does 'setting aside a conviction' mean in Oregon?

It is Oregon's own statutory term, under ORS 137.225, for the court order that sets aside a conviction, contempt finding, or record of a criminal charge. The statute does not use the word expungement, but it does direct the court to issue an order sealing the record of conviction and other official records in the case.

If the free Oregon records search shows nothing, does that mean there's no case?

Not necessarily. The free tier's coverage appears narrower than the paid OJCIN service, so a blank result on the free search is not confirmation that no record exists.