November, 2023

Published on: November 22, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Paula Simon

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are some holiday- related legal stories.

Presidential Turkey Pardoning

The presidential tradition of pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving has an interesting history. You can read a full history of this tradition at the White House Historical Association’s website. Abraham Lincoln was not the first President pardon a turkey, as it is commonly thought. As it turns out, President George H. W. Bush was the first to use the term “pardon” after a turkey was presented to the president and was sent to live on a nearby children’s farm.

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Published on: November 14, 2023

So your loved one can no longer care for themselves. Now What?!

By Amy Gregory

So your loved one can no longer care for themselves. Now What?!

In October the Washington County Law Library hosted a webinar on the divorce process with Sara Kearsley from McKean and Knaupp Attorneys. The video of the presentation is now available on the county’s YouTube!

Published on: November 7, 2023

What shows the history of a statute?

By Lee Van Duzer

A patron recently asked what something meant. They were pointing at a series of numbers and abbreviations at the end of a statute. It looked like this “[1957 c.448 §1; 1981 c.88 §2; 1983 c.330 §1; 1993 c.741 §110; 1993 c.796 §1; 2001 c.403 §1]” (ORS 776.015). I told them that is the history of the law.

When the legislature passes a law, it starts as a bill. That bill has a number, like HB 2001 or SB 101. That tells us if it’s a House Bill (HB) or Senate Bill (SB). Those bills that are approved by both houses and signed by the Governor become a session law. Those session laws are compiled after each legislative session. Those compilations are titled Oregon Laws.

The Oregon Revised Statutes are a compilation of all the session laws passed by the legislature that are currently in effect. To make it easier to find a law, they are organized by subject. But each statute has a list of the session laws that have impacted it, in brackets. That is the text our patron was asking about.

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