Oregon

In July 2017, Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 719, creating Oregon’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law. The law went into effect on January 1, 2018.

In Oregon, an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) is a civil order that temporarily prohibits individuals who present a risk in the near future of suicide or of causing physical injury to another person from purchasing and possessing deadly weapons (including firearms). Family and household members (including a spouse, intimate partners, mother, father, child, sibling, or any person living in the same household as the respondent)¹ and law enforcement officers may petition for an ERPO that may be issued on an ex parte basis.² If an ERPO is issued, the order will remain in place for one year unless the respondent requests a hearing to oppose the ERPO within 30 days of service.³ The hearing shall occur within 21 days of the date of the respondent’s request for a hearing.⁴ If the respondent fails to request a hearing within 30 days after an ERPO is served, the ERPO is effective for a period of one year from the date the original order was issued or until the order is terminated, whichever is sooner.⁵

When the court issues an ERPO, the subject of the order (respondent) must turn over all deadly weapons including firearms, to law enforcement, a gun dealer, or a third party for the duration of the ERPO. In addition, the respondent must give to law enforcement any concealed handgun permit within 24 hours of the court issuing the ERPO.⁶

Oregon’s ERPO law includes ex parte ERPOs issued by judicial officers; an opportunity to request a hearing where the respondent participates; the respondent’s right to counsel (at no expense to the government); and the requirement of substantial and credible evidence (e.g. the enumerated factors the judicial officer must consider) to issue an ERPO.⁷