Oregon Law 2022

Oregon Law 2022

This post contains valuable information. Don't put yourself at a disadvantage. You need to know how to learn about and understand Oregon's legal system. Read on to learn about Oregon Law in 2022.

Understanding more about the legal system helps you maximize your recovery. The personal injury attorneys of Johnson Law know this. Consequently, our attorneys will always take the time to explain things and answer your questions.

Our firm aims to inform all of our community about their options for personal injury claims under Oregon law. You deserve to be fair treatment. Even if we can't represent you we want to help point you in the right direction. This post is the start of a series of blog posts covering the actual personal injury laws of Oregon. To begin, we start with how laws in Oregon are coded and organized.

Note: Please call us now if you're facing an urgent personal injury matter. We provide free consultations. Learn your options. Get your questions answered by an experienced professional.

The Law In Oregon

What is a law? Even when you define what law is, people will still misuse the word. As such, we will focus on two specific sets of rules in Oregon. These sets of rules cover most issues you may be facing. However, remember there are also federal laws. The focus of this post is on "Oregon Laws".

Often when people are talking about "the law" in Oregon, they are referring to the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). These are what people often think of as laws. Alternatively, people may refer to Oregon's Administrative Rules (OAR) as laws. However, the OAR are rules that are made by Oregon governmental organizations based on the authority given to them by Oregon's statutes. Depending on your definition, the OAR aren't actually laws, even if they have the force of law. The rules were not made by the legislature or voter initiative.

Oregon Revised Statutes (2021)

The Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) are the codified laws of the State of Oregon. These laws have been passed through the legislature or by ballot initiative. After being passed the laws need to be organized into the existing set of laws. This is what it means to get codified.

You can find the latest version of the Oregon Revised Statutes from the State of Oregon on the Oregon legislature's website. Every two years new laws are codified and a new version of the ORS is released. The Covid19 pandemic had some minor impacts on how this is normally done, but in general, this is how the system works.

Oregon Administrative Rules

The Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) are created by Oregon governmental agencies and some boards and commissions to implement and interpret their statutory authority (ORS 183.310(9)). Some people's definitions of laws would include the OAR. Others would not. Regardless, the OAR are important. The rules need to be followed and derive their authority from Oregon law.