Pursuing Oregon’s Wrongful Conviction Petition: A Complete Guide to Compensation

Oregon’s journey toward compensating the wrongfully convicted represents one of the nation’s most recent efforts to address the devastating impact of wrongful convictions. In 2022, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1584, the Oregon Justice for Exonerees Act, establishing a pathway for individuals who spent years imprisoned for crimes they did not commit to seek financial compensation and official recognition of innocence. However, the process has proven far more challenging than many anticipated, making it essential for those eligible to understand the petition requirements, compensation amounts, and realistic expectations when navigating the system.
Understanding Your Eligibility

To pursue compensation under Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 30.657, you must satisfy four specific requirements. First, you must have been convicted of one or more felonies and subsequently imprisoned as a result of those convictions. The law applies not only to adults but also to individuals who were adjudicated within juvenile court and placed in custody of the Oregon Youth Authority or the Department of Corrections for at least one year.

Second, your conviction must have been reversed or vacated through specific pathways. Either the charges were dismissed following reversal or vacation of your conviction, or you were found not guilty upon retrial. Alternatively, you may be eligible if you received a gubernatorial pardon. Importantly, a conviction reversed solely because it was obtained following a nonunanimous jury verdict is insufficient to meet this requirement.

Third, you must be able to demonstrate that you did not commit the crime or crimes for which you were convicted and were not an accessory, accomplice, or otherwise involved in the acts underlying the conviction. This element places a substantial evidentiary burden on petitioners and has become a focal point of litigation between exonerees and the state.

Fourth, you must not have committed perjury, fabricated evidence, or by your own conduct caused or brought about the conviction. Notably, the statute clarifies that a confession or admission later found to be false, or a guilty plea, does not constitute committing perjury or fabricating evidence under this provision.
Timing Considerations: Notice and Filing Deadlines

Oregon law imposes strict timing requirements that petitioners must carefully observe. Under ORS 30.659, you cannot file a petition unless you first provide formal notice of petition as required by statute. This notice must be given within 180 days after the date the charges were dismissed, you were found not guilty on retrial, or you received a gubernatorial pardon. This 180-day period does not include time during which you were unable to give notice due to injury, minority, incompetency, or other incapacity.

Formal notice of petition must contain three elements: a statement that a petition for wrongful conviction under ORS 30.657 is or will be filed; the date the charges were dismissed, you were found not guilty, or received a pardon; and your name and mailing address for correspondence. This notice must be delivered to the office of the Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services by mail, electronic mail, or personal delivery.

Following the notice requirement, you have a strict two-year deadline to actually file your compensation petition from the date of charge dismissal, finding of not guilty, or pardon. If you were exonerated before the law became effective in 2022, you had a two-year filing window measured from the law’s effective date.
Filing Your Petition

The petition itself is classified as a civil action, and the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure and Oregon Evidence Code apply unless otherwise specified by statute. You may file your petition in either the Circuit Court for Marion County or the circuit court for the county where you were convicted, giving you some flexibility in venue selection.

When filing, you must serve the petition on the Oregon Attorney General, who will represent the state in all proceedings regarding your case. Additionally, you must mail a copy of your petition to the District Attorney of the county where you were convicted. These service requirements are essential procedural steps that must be completed properly to proceed.
Compensation Amounts

If you prevail in your petition by proving the elements of your case by a preponderance of the evidence, the court will award damages based on a formula adjusted annually for inflation. As of July 1, 2025, the compensation structure is as follows: $70,900 for each year of imprisonment, and $27,300 for each additional year served on parole or post-prison supervision or each additional year you were required to register as a sex offender, whichever is greater. These amounts are adjusted annually and apply to all petitions filed on or after July 1, 2025, and before July 1, 2026.

However, you are not entitled to damages for any period of incarceration during which you were concurrently serving a sentence for a conviction of another crime for which you were lawfully incarcerated. Importantly, punitive damages are not available under this statute.

The court will order that your award be paid as a combination of an initial payment not exceeding $100,000 or 25 percent of your total award—whichever is greater—with the remainder paid as an annuity not exceeding $80,000 per year. You have the right to designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries for the annuity portion.
Additional Relief Beyond Monetary Compensation

Beyond financial damages, the law provides several important supplementary benefits. The court must award you reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in connection with your petition. Additionally, you are entitled to reimbursement for all restitution, assessments, fees, court costs, and all other sums you paid as required by pretrial orders, incarceration, and the judgment and sentence in any proceeding that resulted in the conviction, reversal, or retrial.

The court may also award you access to existing state, local, or other programs providing services including counseling, housing assistance, eligibility for medical assistance, educational assistance, job training, legal services to regain custody of children, assistance with food and transportation, and personal financial literacy assistance, as appropriate to your circumstances.

Perhaps most significantly, if you prevail on your petition, you may request that the judgment include a certificate of innocence finding that you were innocent of all crimes for which you were wrongfully convicted. Upon entry of a favorable judgment, the court must order that your associated convictions and arrest records be set aside and sealed from all applicable state and federal systems. This sealing occurs regardless of whether you have other criminal convictions or pending criminal cases.
The Practical Reality: Obstacles and Ongoing Challenges

While the law provides these protections and compensation pathways in theory, the practical implementation has been significantly more contentious than legislative sponsors intended. As of mid-2025, the Oregon Department of Justice has received approximately 76 claims for compensation under the 2022 law, but only nine exonerees have received compensation payments. This extraordinarily low compensation rate has prompted serious questions about the law’s functionality.

The primary obstacle has been the state’s approach to litigating these claims. Under the previous Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s administration, the Department of Justice opposed approximately 90 percent of wrongful conviction compensation claims, arguing that exonerees must prove their innocence beyond the reasons their convictions were reversed—essentially forcing them to relitigate their cases. This interpretation departed significantly from how other states handle similar statutes.

The state has adopted a particularly strict interpretation of the requirement that petitioners prove they “did not commit the crime.” Lawyers from the DOJ have unsuccessfully attempted to prevent exonerees from referencing their inclusion on the National Registry of Exonerations, arguing such references were “frivolous and irrelevant.” The state has disregarded post-conviction proceedings that uncovered evidence of innocence and has compelled exonerees to essentially repeat their legal battles from scratch.

This aggressive litigation strategy has frustrated exonerees and legislative sponsors alike. Representative Kim Thatcher, the Republican lawmaker who introduced the 2022 bill, stated clearly: “That was not the intention. There was no intention to have to have a court battle.” The state’s approach has also drawn unfavorable comparisons to other states with similar statutes. As one advocate noted, “The attorney general in Idaho walked hand-in-hand with exonerees to court. They agreed to relief and those exonerees got everything they were entitled to under Idaho’s statute.”
Recent Developments and Potential Reforms

Recognizing these systemic failures, Oregon lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 1007 in the 2025 legislative session with bipartisan sponsorship from Republican Senator Kim Thatcher and Democratic Senator Floyd Prozanski. The bill aimed to reform the wrongful conviction compensation process by imposing stricter guidelines on when the state Department of Justice can challenge payouts and requiring the agency to acknowledge new evidence of innocence rather than simply reviewing the original prosecution.

The new Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who took office in January 2025, acknowledged in early 2025 that the compensation process had been too slow and announced administrative changes within the Oregon Department of Justice to accelerate case resolution. Four of the nine compensated cases have occurred under his administration, suggesting a potential shift in approach. However, SB 1007 did not advance during the 2025 legislative session as spending priorities became more pressing.

One notable recent settlement involved Frank Gable, who spent 27 years in prison for the 1989 murder of Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke. The state agreed to pay him approximately $2 million in March 2025 after appeals demonstrated that evidence against him was fabricated. However, such settlements remain exceptional rather than routine.
Notable Cases

Several exonerees have become public advocates for faster compensation. Philip Scott Cannon spent 11 years in Oregon prison for a triple murder he did not commit. He has testified before legislative committees about the trauma of fighting the state for recognition of his innocence twice—once in criminal proceedings and again in compensation litigation.

Jesse Johnson represents another high-profile case of injustice compounded by compensation delays. Johnson was convicted of a 1998 murder and spent 17 years on Oregon’s death row before an Oregon Court of Appeals decision found he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. His case was featured in the first season of OPB’s podcast “Hush,” which revealed new evidence of his innocence. Despite his exoneration in 2023, his compensation case has not been resolved as of mid-2025, and his attorney has indicated they will press forward “through all available legal avenues.”
Seeking Legal Representation

Given the complexity of proving the required elements and the contentious litigation posture of the state, securing experienced legal representation is crucial. Many exonerees have worked with organizations such as the Forensic Justice Project, the Innocence Project, and law firms specializing in wrongful conviction cases. An attorney can help you gather the necessary documentation, prepare compelling evidence of your innocence, and navigate the civil litigation process against the state.
Conclusion

Oregon’s statutory pathway to compensation for wrongful conviction offers meaningful financial remedies and the possibility of official innocence certificates for those who prevail. However, the path to compensation remains more difficult than the law’s sponsors envisioned, with the state frequently contesting claims that exonerees have already spent years fighting to overturn. If you are eligible—meaning your conviction has been reversed or vacated, charges dismissed or you were acquitted on retrial, or you received a gubernatorial pardon—and you can demonstrate you did not commit the crime, pursuing a petition may be appropriate for your circumstances. Moving forward, Oregon lawmakers have signaled a willingness to reform the statute to make compensation more accessible and timely, suggesting that the legal landscape may improve for future petitioners and that current exonerees may benefit from legislative action in 2026 and beyond.