General Guidance for Using the Form
The Unrepresented Persons Intake Form is intended to streamline communication between OPDC and court staff, replacing the need for court staff to call or send emails to OPDC regarding individual cases. The form is not intended for use in every case and is not a replacement for OJD’s Unrepresented Persons Dashboard. OPDC hopes to replace the high volume of emails and phone calls received with a process that will enable more effective and timely agency response. In general, if court staff would have previously emailed or called OPDC regarding a particular case, they should now use the Intake Form instead. In particular, the Intake Form should be used for:
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In Custody, Unrepresented Cases
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In Custody, Unrepresented Cases, where the OJD Unrepresented Persons dashboard shows the defendant as Out of Custody
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Cases subject to potential release under
Betschart v. State of Oregon (also referred to as the “McShane order”)
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Cases in which a person was released pursuant to the
Betschart order.
Upon completing the Intake Form the submitter will receive an auto-generated response email from OPDC confirming the submission. Once an attorney is assigned, OPDC will send auto-generated emails to trial court administrators, designated court staff, and the assigned attorney letting them know the result of the assignment.
For questions regarding the form or to get access to the form, please email the
Unrepresented Persons Inbox with the subject line "Intake Form Question".
Intake Form FAQs
This form is designed to replace emails that were being sent to the OPDC Unrepresented Persons Email Address. In particular the form should be used for:
- In Custody, Unrepresented Cases
- In Custody, Unrepresented Cases, where the OJD Unrepresented Persons dashboard shows the defendant as Out of Custody
- Cases which are or may become subject to potential release under Betschart v. State of Oregon (also referred to as the “McShane order”)
- Cases in which a person was released pursuant to the Betschart order.
Yes, these can be submitted on the form. However, OPDC’s priority is to assign attorneys to the in-custody population held without counsel.
Currently, the Workflow Queue is only viewable by OPDC staff. OPDC and OJD are working collaboratively to add functionality to the intake form, including the ability to view entries.
OPDC has intentionally limited the form to a minimal number of fields to ensure the form remains an easy and quick tool for court staff using it. Those fields include:
- Unrepresented Person’s First/Last Name: the name of the defendant
- County: the county of the unrepresented Case
- Case Number: the case number associated with the Highest Charge for that defendant
- Custody Status: whether the defendant is held In Custody at the time of submission.
OPDC is working closely with OJD to leverage other relevant data (such as whether a case has Aid and Assist issues). Additional information can be submitted through the ‘Additional Information’ field if a specific field is not available.
No. Please use a single form for each unrepresented person. In the “additional information” box, you may include other case numbers. Additional form submissions will only serve to slow the overall appointment process.
Please use the last name which appears on OECI when filling out the last name field and note any additional names or AKAs in the additional information fields.
Generally, any information that is needed to find an attorney but not readily apparent from the nature of the charges or OECI including but not limited to:
- If the Betschart order applies to this case,
- If it is a domestic violence case,
- A person presenting in court with symptoms of a mental health issue,
- A person requiring the assistance of an interpreter.
This information is helpful for OPDC to both prioritize our efforts to find attorneys for specific cases and when talking to attorneys about taking the case.
Yes, if known please include any additional case numbers for the same unrepresented person in the Additional Information field of the form. Please also include any out of county case numbers as well.
Please submit the form using the case from the county of submission and note any other cases in the ‘Additional Information’ field. If a case noted in that filed has a higher charge, please note that as well.
No, information submitted is not confidential. Please do not submit any privileged information via this form. If you have questions about a case that may implicate privileged information please call the resource counsel assigned to your jurisdiction for guidance on how to proceed.
If you did not receive a confirmation email to the email sent to the address you entered into the form, please contact OPDC at OPDS.Unrepresented.Persons@opds.state.or.us.