How to Search Union County Court Records
Union County Court records for state trial cases are maintained through the Union County Circuit Court records process and Oregon Judicial Department online services. The basic public route is the OJD records and calendar search, which provides free court dates and basic case information. OECI, the Oregon eCourt Case Information system, is the official register for Oregon circuit courts and the Tax Court under ORS 7.020. Account-based access runs through OJCIN Online when a user needs broader register-of-actions access.
The court location on a citation or notice matters. Union County Circuit Court records are not the only local records channel. Justice Court citations may be held in Island City, and La Grande officer-issued traffic, parking, and ordinance matters may be held by the city court. For copy work, newer court documents can be reviewed on lobby kiosk computers, while older nondigitized files may need retrieval by court staff before review or copying.
- Identify the court named on the citation, notice, judgment, or filing.
- Use OJD records and calendar search for a quick Circuit Court case status or court date check.
- Use OECI or OJCIN for register-of-actions detail when account access is available.
- Use the courthouse kiosk for newer public documents, or submit a records request for copies.
- Contact Justice Court or La Grande Municipal Court directly when the case did not file into Circuit Court.
The Union County Circuit Court page shows the local courthouse, judges, district, security notice, and drop box context used for many court records requests.
That court page is the local anchor for Circuit Court contact, courthouse entry rules, and links into OJD services.
Union County Court System
Oregon uses a unified state court system. The primary trial court for Union County is the Union County Circuit Court, part of the 10th Judicial District. Oregon's state-funded courts include circuit courts, the Oregon Tax Court, the Oregon Court of Appeals, and the Oregon Supreme Court. Municipal, justice, county, tribal, and federal courts are separate from the state-funded Oregon Judicial Department, even when they hear local violations or cases involving Union County residents.
The Oregon Judicial Department court structure overview places circuit courts at the trial-court level, with appeals moving to the Court of Appeals unless a statute or case type routes the appeal differently. Union County Circuit Court shares judges with Wallowa County. The local court lists Thomas B. Powers as Presiding Judge and Jared D. Boyd as Circuit Court Judge.
The state structure matters because OJD systems cover Circuit Court records, while Justice Court and municipal records may require separate local contact.
| Court or Office | Local Role | Typical Records |
|---|---|---|
| Union County Circuit Court | Primary state trial court | Criminal, civil, family, divorce, probate, protective orders, and many violations |
| Union County Justice Court | Local justice-court venue in Island City | Assigned citations and justice-court matters |
| La Grande Municipal Court | City court for La Grande matters | Minor traffic, parking, and city ordinance violations issued by city officers |
| Oregon Court of Appeals | Intermediate state appellate court | Appeals from trial-court judgments when routed by law |
| U.S. District Court, District of Oregon | Separate federal trial court | Federal civil, criminal, and related docket records |
Union County Courthouse Access
Union County's state court facility is the Union County Courthouse at 1105 K Ave in La Grande. The current courthouse was built in 2016 and was modeled after the original 1905 courthouse. All visitors pass through a security checkpoint. The filing drop box is checked each business day at 5 p.m.; filings left between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. count as received that business day, while filings after 5 p.m. count the next business day.
The county legal-services offices are close to each other in downtown La Grande, but they are not the same records counter. Circuit Court records are at the courthouse. Sheriff and jail records are at 1109 K Ave. County administrative records are at 1106 K Ave. The County Clerk and Recorder, which handles marriage licenses and recording, is at the Chaplin Building.
Union County Clerk and Recorder
1001 Fourth Street, Suite D
La Grande, OR 97850
541-963-1006
The Union County Clerk and Recorder page identifies the office that handles recording, marriage licenses, elections, passports, and other county-record functions.
This office is a separate stop from Circuit Court records, which helps avoid sending a court-copy request to the wrong counter.
Union County Court Record Types
Union County Court records include several distinct case groups. Civil records may contain complaints, answers, motions, judgments, writs, and collection activity. Criminal court records include charging instruments, arraignment, pleas, hearings, warrants, dispositions, judgments, sentencing, fines, restitution, and probation terms. Family records cover divorce, separation, custody, parenting time, child support, modifications, and enforcement.
Probate records are Circuit Court records in Union County, not a separate probate court system. Traffic records split by venue. A Circuit Court traffic citation uses OJD traffic and payment routes, while a Justice Court or La Grande Municipal Court citation must be handled with the court printed on the citation. Juvenile and adoption records are confidential or restricted and are not searched like ordinary public civil case files.
- Civil records track lawsuits, judgments, writs, and related orders.
- Criminal records track filed charges, pleas, hearings, disposition, and sentence.
- Family and divorce records track domestic-relations filings and judgments.
- Probate records track estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships.
- Traffic records track citations, pleas, payments, trials, and default judgments.
What Union County Court Records Show
Oregon Circuit Court records use the register-of-actions concept. OECI states that it contains case information and the Register of Actions for Oregon circuit courts and the Tax Court. A public Union County case record may show case-identifying details, parties, filing date, case type, hearings, events, dispositions, and docket activity. Actual document copies may require OJCIN access, courthouse kiosk review, or a records request.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The unique court identifier used to locate the file or register entry. |
| Court or venue | Union County Circuit Court, Justice Court, La Grande Municipal Court, appellate court, or federal court. |
| Parties | Plaintiff and defendant, petitioner and respondent, state and defendant, or estate and decedent. |
| Register entries | Dates, hearings, orders, notices, dispositions, payments, and other case events. |
| Disposition | The current or final result, such as dismissed, convicted, judgment entered, set aside, or sealed. |
| Documents | Pleadings, motions, orders, judgments, and copy types when public and available. |
Union County Public Access Rules
Oregon public access uses more than one legal route. ORS chapter 192 governs public records requests to public bodies and exemptions. Court records have their own judicial records process, and ORS chapter 7 covers court registers. Union County administrative requests must be written and specific, with the county public records request form preferred.
Union County may estimate costs before producing county administrative records. The county's web page and adopted fee order are not perfectly identical on free research time, so fee discussions should use the adopted order for dollar amounts and the county page for the request process. Sheriff case reports, photographs, and jail records use a separate UCSO request channel.
Key statutes:
ORS 192.314 gives every person the right to inspect nonexempt public records of a public body.
ORS 7.020 requires the court register used for circuit-court case activity.
ORS 419A.255 limits access to juvenile court records.
The Oregon public records law source is one of the legal references used for county administrative records and exemptions.
Public-record law helps with county and sheriff requests, while Circuit Court case files still follow OJD court-record procedures.
Restricted Union County Records
Not every Union County Court record is open. The Circuit Court records page states that juvenile cases are confidential and that juvenile copy requests require contacting the court. Adoption cases are also confidential and use a separate request and release process. Sealed records, set-aside criminal records, protected addresses, financial-account data, and medical or mental-health details may be withheld or redacted.
Oregon's set-aside process is a court proceeding, not a public-record request. A person seeking to seal eligible arrest or conviction records files through the court that handled the case, usually Union County Circuit Court for Circuit Court criminal matters. The prosecuting attorney receives notice and may object where allowed. Eligibility depends on the offense, waiting periods, later history, and other legal factors.
Union County Sheriff and Jail
The Union County Sheriff's Office and Correctional Facility are at 1109 K Ave in La Grande. Sheriff Cody Bowen took office in January 2021. The jail opened in 1979, holds a maximum of 37 inmates, and averages about 1,200 bookings each year. UCSO publishes a jail roster as a PDF rather than a searchable inmate database. The roster may show booking date, arrest agency, charges, and bonds, but it is not a complete court-record or warrant search.
UCSO records requests cover case reports, case photographs, and jail records. CAD logs or 911 audio must be requested from La Grande Police Department. If a case remains under investigation, UCSO may withhold the report or refer the requester to the District Attorney's Office. No official Union County Sheriff's Office or La Grande Police mobile app was found in the official pages reviewed, so roster and records access should use the official web and phone channels.
The Union County Sheriff's Office homepage provides the sheriff and jail starting point for custody, public records, and correctional information.
Custody data should be checked against court records when the question is charge status, case outcome, or sentencing.
Union County Traffic Court Records
Traffic records in Union County start with the court location printed on the citation. Union County Circuit Court's traffic instructions apply only to citations filed into that court. Eligible Circuit Court citations can use OJD ePay after a no-contest plea, and weighmaster citations require the letters WM before the Complaint/Summons number. Not-guilty pleas, trials, remote appearance requests, exhibits, and failure-to-appear consequences follow the local Circuit Court traffic page.
Justice Court citations use Point & Pay or telephone payment through the Justice Court channel. La Grande Municipal Court handles minor traffic violations, parking violations, and city ordinance violations issued by City of La Grande officers. A court traffic record is not the same as an Oregon driver record. The court file shows the citation case, while the driver record is maintained through state motor-vehicle systems.
The La Grande Municipal Court page identifies the city court channel for minor traffic, parking, and ordinance matters.
This lower-court route is important when a citation was issued by city officers and does not appear in Circuit Court systems.
Union County Marriage and Probate
Marriage licenses are handled by the Union County Clerk and Recorder, not by the Circuit Court records counter. Applicants must be at least 18, both parties must appear, and both must complete and sign the official application in the Clerk's Office. The marriage license fee is $54. The license has a three-day waiting period, can be used anywhere in Oregon, and must be used within 60 days after it becomes effective.
Divorce records are Circuit Court records. OJD's Union County forms page links statewide family-law forms for divorce, legal separation, modifications, enforcement, temporary orders, and related filings. Probate records are also Circuit Court records. Modern probate search starts through OJD/OECI and court records requests, while older probate material may be in archive holdings, microfilm, or historical volumes.
- Register of Actions
- Oregon's chronological court event register for circuit court and Tax Court cases.
- Certified copy
- A complete filed document sworn true by a court clerk or official custodian.
- Exemplified copy
- A three-way certificate authenticated by a clerk and presiding judge, often for use outside Oregon.
- Disposition
- The current or final outcome of a case, charge, or claim.
Union County Record Fees
Union County public-record costs depend on the office and record type. The county public records fee order lists per-page copy costs, certification charges, mailing costs, storage-media costs, research time, and special sheriff records charges. Court filing fees and some court copy costs may follow OJD fee schedules, so court case-copy requests should be checked with Circuit Court staff when a certified or exemplified court document is needed.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Photocopies or electronic copies | $0.25 per page, $1.00 minimum |
| Certified county copy | $5.00 per certification plus $0.25 per page |
| CD or DVD | $10.00 each |
| Research and production | Up to 15 minutes no charge, then $35 per hour with half-hour minimum |
| Sheriff case report | $10 first five pages, then $0.25 per page |
| Jail records | $10 up to 10 pages, $15 for 11 or more pages |
Union County Court History
Union County was established on October 14, 1864. The current courthouse was built in 2016 and modeled after the original 1905 courthouse. The historical connection is more than architectural. Union County Circuit Court joined OECI in 2016, so some records created since then are more likely to be reflected in electronic systems, while older files may remain physical, boxed, microfilmed, or stored in archives.
The Oregon Secretary of State Union County records inventory lists courthouse, clerk, commissioner, sheriff, archive, and microfilm holdings.
The inventory is useful when an older probate, adoption, justice-court, or court volume does not appear in a modern online search.
Federal Cases Near Union County
Federal court records are separate from Union County Court records and Oregon Judicial Department systems. Union County is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Federal case lookup and filing use PACER and CM/ECF, and bankruptcy cases use the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon. The Pendleton federal courthouse is the closest divisional location for northeastern Oregon, though some federal pages note limited staffing.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon is the federal trial-court source for federal civil and criminal cases involving Oregon.
Use the federal court route only when the case is federal; county, municipal, justice, and state Circuit Court matters stay with their local or OJD custodians.
Union County Court Records FAQ
Can I search all Union County court records in one place? No. Circuit Court case data starts with OJD and OECI, but Justice Court, La Grande Municipal Court, sheriff records, jail records, and Clerk and Recorder records use separate channels.
Where are certified divorce copies requested? Divorce judgments are Circuit Court records. Marriage licenses and certified marriage copies are handled by the Union County Clerk and Recorder.
Does the jail roster prove a conviction? No. The UCSO roster shows custody, charges, agencies, and bonds when listed. Court disposition and sentence must be checked through court records.
What if an older case is missing online? Older nondigitized Circuit Court files may require court staff retrieval. Historical volumes may be listed in the Oregon Secretary of State inventory.