Oregon Legal Research Blog
Despite cries from legislators and others that It’s All Online, in Oregon at least (and we really do know it’s the same in other places), IT IS NOT ALL ONLINE!
For example:
Have you ever tried to find an Oregon city or county code without these dance steps?
1) You phone and ask for a copy or fax or scan of x pages
2) They say, “mail us a request for what you want” (Mail? Mail? What year is this?)
3) They say, we’ll figure out how many pages your request covers and then
4) We’ll let you know how many pages and how much money you need to send us
5) You then have to send a check in the exact amount due
) Then, assuming all the stars are lined up, they will send you the photocopied pages – through the mail
This is not an unfamiliar dance whether you are requesting court records or local government records.
And for those of you who think “it’s all online,” and who may even know what to do with that statute or case when you find it, on my Oregon Legal Information webpage, I’ve started compiling a list of frequently requested Oregon and federal legal research resources – with notes about their online status.
Feel free to send me additions and corrections!