The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is responsible for maintaining records for every Oregon driver. The criminal justice system (police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and defendants) relies on DMV records to make important decisions such as whether to make an arrest, whether to file charges, and whether to enter a guilty plea.
It was recently discovered that DMV has reported inaccurate information for many years about some Oregon drivers. These records incorrectly classified some driving privileges as suspended or revoked at a criminal level, when, in fact, the suspension or revocation should have already ended or never been imposed in the first place. These errors by DMV have resulted in wrongful arrests and convictions for the crime of Driving While Suspended or Revoked (DWS/DWR) throughout Oregon, including in Washington County. This issue has been widely reported in the news media: False Oregon DMV records lead to mistaken arrests, convictions for driving with suspended license - oregonlive.com
The Washington County DA’s Office is committed to righting these wrongs to the best of our ability. We have initiated a comprehensive review of all DWS/DWR convictions in Washington County over the past decade, since 2012. During that time, there have been approximately 3,000 DWS/DWR convictions in Washington County. While the vast majority of these convictions are justified and the DMV records they are based upon are accurate, we have identified some that are not.
We are committed to taking immediate action to address any wrongful conviction. This includes filing motions with the court to expunge the conviction, notifying the defendant and DMV, and terminating probation (if necessary).
If you would like to request review of a past DWS/DWR conviction that occurred prior to 2012, pleasecomplete the DWS/DWR Request for Review Form. You will be contacted when the review is complete.