Pendleton City Council discusses court of record status

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, September 26th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – The Pendleton City Council is holding a workshop at 6:30 p.m. today (Tuesday) to take a deeper look into equipping the Pendleton Municipal Court to become a court of record. Mayor John Turner said that at a public hearing on the ordinance last week, one attorney suggested the city might want to explore the possibility that it will cost more than the city anticipates.

“A lawyer said we could have all kinds of more expenses as far as expert witnesses, do we need to hire a more robust interpreter system,” Turner said.

He added staff would be calling cities with courts of record to inquire about those additional costs. Right now, because Pendleton Municipal Court is not a court of record, appealing a verdict there means a trip to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Umatilla County. Courts of record allow appeals to go directly to the state.

“We’re going to call some cities that have a municipal court that’s a court of record and ask them if they are incurring those additional costs,” Turner said. “Right now, if we have to do an appeal, it’s a whole second trial with a jury and police overtime.”

Last year, there were 17 appeals of decisions made at Pendleton Municipal Court.