The Oregon State Constitution is the supreme law within Oregon, drafted by a convention in 1857, ratified by territorial voters that November, and in force since February 14, 1859, the day Oregon became a state.1Oregon Secretary of State. Constitution of Oregon Every statute passed in Salem, every city ordinance, and every court ruling in the state has to conform to it. It has been amended hundreds of times, and several of those amendments, especially on property taxes, jury verdicts, and direct democracy, shape day-to-day life in ways the federal Constitution does not.
Much of the original nineteenth-century language is still on the books, sitting alongside modern provisions on vote-by-mail elections, property tax caps, and surplus revenue refunds. The signed, engrossed copy is kept in the Secretary of State’s office in Salem.2Oregon Secretary of State. Oregon State Constitution
Rights That Go Beyond Federal Law
Article I is Oregon’s bill of rights, and the Oregon Supreme Court has read several sections to protect residents more strongly than the U.S. Constitution does. If you are relying on one of these provisions, the state version is often the stronger argument.
Free Expression
Section 8 bars any state law restricting the free expression of opinion or the right to speak, write, or print on any subject, while making each person responsible for abusing that right.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution In State v. Henry (1987), the Oregon Supreme Court used Section 8 to strike down an obscenity statute that would have survived under the First Amendment, holding the state provision sweeps more broadly than its federal counterpart.4Justia Law. State v. Henry It remains one of the most-cited examples of a state constitution outrunning federal protection.
Religion and Equal Privileges
Section 2 secures the right to worship according to individual conscience, and Section 3 prohibits any law controlling the free exercise of religious belief.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution Oregon’s ban on using public money for religious institutions has been enforced more strictly than the federal Establishment Clause. Section 20 adds a general equal-treatment rule: no law can grant privileges or immunities to one class of citizens that others cannot enjoy on the same terms.
Criminal Trials and the End of Non-Unanimous Juries
Section 11 guarantees anyone accused of a crime a public trial by an impartial jury in the county where the offense occurred, with the right to counsel, to confront witnesses, and to compel testimony.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution For decades, Oregon was unusual in allowing felony convictions on 10-to-2 jury votes. That ended in 2020, when the U.S. Supreme Court held in Ramos v. Louisiana that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous verdicts in all felony cases.5Supreme Court of the United States. Ramos v. Louisiana The ruling applied retroactively to Oregon defendants whose cases were still on direct appeal, and the state public defender system has processed a wave of challenges to older non-unanimous convictions since.6State of Oregon. Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts – the Ramos and Watkins Decisions
Punishment, Bail, and Open Courts
Section 16 prohibits excessive bail and fines, bans cruel and unusual punishments, and requires that penalties be proportioned to the offense. Section 15 states that criminal laws rest on protection of society, personal responsibility, and reformation rather than revenge.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution
Section 10 guarantees that justice is administered openly, without cost barriers, completely, and without delay, and that every person has a remedy for injury to person, property, or reputation. It is the basis for challenging secret proceedings and government moves to strip people of meaningful court access.
Right to Bear Arms
Section 27 protects the right of the people to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the state, and keeps the military subordinate to civilian authority.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution It is the state hook for most litigation over Oregon firearms regulations.
How State Government Is Organized
Article III splits state power into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Nobody holding duties in one branch may exercise the functions of another unless the constitution expressly allows it.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution
The Legislative Assembly
Article IV creates a bicameral legislature capped at 30 senators and 60 representatives. Senators serve four-year terms, representatives serve two years, and each term starts on the second Monday in January after the election. Since voters approved Measure 71 in 2010, the legislature meets in annual sessions instead of the original biennial schedule. Bills need a majority in both chambers before going to the Governor.
The Governor and the Line of Succession
Article V puts executive power in the Governor, who serves four-year terms and cannot hold the office more than eight years in any twelve-year period. The Governor is commander-in-chief of state military forces, must see that laws are faithfully executed, can veto bills, and can strike individual items from appropriation bills. A two-thirds vote in both chambers overrides a veto.
If the Governor dies, resigns, is removed, or becomes disabled, succession runs to the Secretary of State, then the State Treasurer, then the Senate President, then the Speaker of the House.7FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art V 8a A successor serves until the next general biennial election. If the Secretary of State or Treasurer steps up, they appoint someone to fill their vacated office.
Administrative Officers and the Judiciary
Article VI makes the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer separately elected officers with four-year terms. The Secretary of State is the auditor of public accounts and keeps official records of legislative and executive actions.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution
Article VII places judicial power in one Supreme Court plus whatever lower courts the legislature creates. Judges are elected to six-year terms, and their pay cannot be reduced while they serve. The Oregon Supreme Court is the final word on state constitutional and statutory interpretation, which carries real weight given how often Oregon’s constitution diverges from federal standards.
Voting and Recall
Article II opens with the principle that all elections shall be free and equal, then sets who votes and how officials can be removed.
Who Can Vote
To vote in Oregon you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18, a state resident for at least six months before the election, and registered at least 20 calendar days before Election Day.8FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art II 2 A limited exception lets new residents of fewer than 30 days vote in presidential elections if they meet the other requirements. Oregon runs all elections by mail.
Recalling an Elected Official
Section 18 makes every public officer in Oregon subject to recall. Petitioners need signatures equal to 15 percent of the votes cast for Governor in that officer’s district at the most recent gubernatorial election, and the petition must state the reasons.3Justia Law. Oregon Constitution No petition can circulate until the officer has held the position six months, except for state legislators, who can face recall as early as five days into the first legislative session after election.
If the officer does not resign within five days of a petition being filed, a special election must be held within 35 days. The ballot carries up to 200 words on the reasons for recall and up to 200 words of the officer’s response. If a first recall fails at the ballot box, anyone filing a second petition against the same officer during the same term must reimburse the full cost of the earlier election.
Making or Blocking Laws Yourself
Oregon was one of the first states to adopt the initiative and referendum, and Article IV, Section 1 reserves those powers to the people as a co-equal lawmaking authority with the legislature.
Initiatives
Citizens can propose statutes or constitutional amendments and put them straight on the ballot. A statutory initiative needs signatures equal to 6 percent of the total votes cast for all gubernatorial candidates at the last gubernatorial election. A constitutional amendment initiative raises the bar to 8 percent.9FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art IV 1 Signatures must be filed at least four months before the general election, and a simple majority passes the measure. The Governor cannot veto a law passed by initiative. The legislature can later amend or repeal one, but the original enactment stands as an act of the people.
Referendums
The referendum lets voters approve or reject a law the legislature has already passed. Petitioners need signatures equal to 4 percent of the gubernatorial vote total, filed within 90 days after the end of the session in which the law was passed. Once a valid petition is filed, the challenged law is suspended until the next general election. The legislature can also refer its own bills to the voters, and those referrals are not subject to the Governor’s veto.
One Subject at a Time
Every initiative must address a single subject and matters properly connected to it.10Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Constitution A separate-vote requirement under Article XVII covers constitutional amendments. In Armatta v. Kitzhaber (1998), the Oregon Supreme Court struck down a ballot measure that packaged multiple unrelated constitutional changes into one vote, holding that each distinct amendment must be presented to voters separately.11Justia Law. Armatta v. Kitzhaber
Property Tax Limits and the Kicker
Three constitutional provisions, all adopted by voters, drive Oregon’s tax picture. Two cap property taxes. One returns surplus income tax revenue to taxpayers.
Measure 5 Rate Caps
Article XI, Section 11b limits the total property tax that can be imposed on any parcel based on real market value. School district taxes cannot exceed $5 per $1,000 of real market value, and taxes for all other government purposes, including cities, counties, and special districts, cannot exceed $10 per $1,000.12FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art XI 11b When combined levies in either category exceed the cap, bills are reduced through a process called compression, and the lost revenue is permanent for the affected taxing district. That is why a local government can still struggle to fund services even after voters approve a new levy.
Measure 50 Assessed Value Cap
Article XI, Section 11 limits how fast a property’s assessed value can grow. After the 1997-98 tax year, assessed value cannot increase more than 3 percent annually, no matter how fast market values rise.13FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art XI 11 Your tax bill is based on assessed value, so the 3 percent cap acts as a brake on annual increases. The tradeoff: tax burdens can shift unevenly between long-time owners and recent buyers, since a sale resets assessed value closer to market value.
The Kicker Refund
Article IX, Section 14 requires the state to return surplus revenue when personal income tax collections exceed the official forecast by 2 percent or more. The refund, called the kicker, shows up as a credit on your state income tax return for odd-numbered years.14Oregon Department of Revenue. Oregon Surplus Kicker Corporate income tax surpluses do not go back to businesses; that money is directed to K-12 public education.15FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art IX 14 The kicker for the 2025 tax year was set at 9.863 percent of 2024 tax liability.
How the Constitution Gets Changed
Article XVII sets the amendment process. Either chamber can propose an amendment, and if a majority of all elected members in both the House and Senate agree, it goes to voters at the next general election, or at a special election if the legislature orders one. A simple majority of voters makes it part of the constitution.16FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art XVII 1 Citizens can also propose amendments by initiative at the 8 percent signature threshold.
A wholesale rewrite, called a revision, follows Article XVIII and typically runs through a constitutional convention. The legislature must pass a law calling the convention, and voters must approve the call. Oregon has not held a second convention since 1857, though the mechanism is still available.
The separate-vote rule under Article XVII keeps unrelated changes from being bundled into one proposal. A ballot measure that combines distinct constitutional modifications will be invalidated, as happened in Armatta v. Kitzhaber. Whatever the route, every change ultimately needs a majority of the public to vote yes.