Public Records Requests

Oregon Public Records Law (OPRL) provides that every person has a right to inspect any non-exempt public record of produced by a public employee or government. It is our policy to respond to public record requests in an orderly, consistent and reasonable manner in accordance with the Oregon Public Records Law.

To request access to public records, the request must include the following:

• Be in writing.
• Include contact information.
• Clearly state what records are being sought.

To request corrections records information, including persons in custody, charges, corrections housing, booking records, jail video, jail phone calls, etc., please use this form.

To request a police report written by a patrol deputy, please use this form. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office only maintains police reports written by MCSO deputies and reports submitted through our online system.

If you are a member of a news organization, please submit a request using this form.

For all other inquiries or questions, contact MCSO Public Records at prr@mcso.us 

Mail option:
Public Records Request
Communications Unit
Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
501 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 350
Portland, OR 97214

Please be advised that there may be a fee to cover staff time researching and retrieving the records. You will be notified of estimated fees and costs in advance. Payment is required before the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office will produce the records. The fee may be reduced or waived if it is determined the release of the information is in the interest of the public.

The OPRL expressly authorizes public agencies to establish reasonable fees to be reimbursed for the actual costs of making the records available. Actual costs may include materials and mailing expenses, as well as staff time spent locating, reviewing, copying records or supervising a person’s inspection of original records.

Fees are set by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners each fiscal year and can be reviewed in the Master Fee Schedule updated annually.

If you are a crime victim, there is no charge for report copies. However, there may be additional charges for other types of records related to your request.

The OPRL establishes a baseline expectation that governments will complete their responses no later than 15 business days after receiving the request. A public body unable to meet the 15 business-day deadline must notify the requester in writing that the request is still being processed and provide the requester with a reasonable estimated date of completion.

The OPRL is primarily a disclosure law, not a confidentiality law. However, there are some categories of records and information that governments are legally prohibited from disclosing or that may be disclosed only to specific entities or in specific circumstances. If the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office declines to produce a record or certain material within the record, MCSO will notify the requester and cite the applicable OPRL exemption(s). If the requesting party desires to appeal the decision by the Sheriff’s Office, they may file an appeal with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.