Chapter 52 - Civil Actions
- 52.010 Actions commenced and prosecuted, and judgments enforced, as in circuit court; prevailing party entitled to disbursements.
(1) Actions at law in justice courts shall be commenced and prosecuted to final determination and judgment enforced therein, in the manner provided for similar...
- 52.020 Mode of proceeding and rules of evidence.
The mode of proceeding and the rules of evidence are the same in a justice court as in a like action or proceeding in the...
- 52.030 Court rules and procedures.
The rules in justice courts governing mistakes in pleadings and amendments thereof, vacating defaults and judgments for mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect, the formation...
- 52.035 Dismissal of civil cases for want of prosecution.
The justice of the peace of every justice court shall mail a notice to each of the attorneys of record, or, to the plaintiff where...
- 52.040 Contempt in justice court.
ORS 33.015 to 33.155, defining acts that constitute contempt and the proceedings for imposing sanctions for contempt, apply to justice courts. [Amended by 1991 c.724...
- 52.050 [Repealed by 1999 c.605 §8]
- 52.060 Persons entitled to act as attorneys in justice court.
Any person may act as attorney for another in a justice court, except a person or officer serving any process in the action or proceeding,...
- 52.110 Service; form, contents and requisites of summons.
(1) At any time after the action is commenced by the filing of a complaint with the justice of the peace, the plaintiff may cause...
- 52.120 Persons authorized to serve summons; compensation; manner of service.
(1) The summons in an action in a justice court shall be served by a person authorized to serve summons, who shall be compensated for...
- 52.130 Appointment of persons to serve process or order.
Whenever it appears to the justice that any process or order authorized to be issued or made will not be served for want of an...
- 52.140 [Amended by 1953 c.479 §4; 1977 c.877 §13; repealed by 1979 c.284 §199]
- 52.150 [Repealed by 1979 c.284 §199]
- 52.160 [Repealed by 1979 c.284 §199]
- 52.170 Security for disbursements.
If the plaintiff is a nonresident of this state, the justice may require the plaintiff to give an undertaking with one or more sureties, or...
- 52.180 Form of undertaking; qualifications and justification of sureties; deposit in lieu of undertaking.
(1) The undertaking may be substantially in the following form: ______________________________________________________________________________ “I, A B,” or “We, A B and C D, undertake to pay E...
- 52.210 Plaintiff entitled to attachment as in circuit court.
In a civil action in a justice court the plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of the provisional remedies of attachment and delivery of personal...
- 52.220 Attachment proceedings conducted as in circuit court.
The provisions for proceedings in the circuit courts on attachment and delivery of personal property shall govern in like cases in justice courts, except as...
- 52.230 [Repealed by 1981 c.898 §53]
- 52.240 [Repealed by 1981 c.898 §53]
- 52.250 Attachment of real property prohibited.
Real property or any interest therein cannot be attached upon a writ of attachment in a civil action in a justice court.
- 52.260 [Repealed by 1981 c.898 §53]
- 52.310 Pleadings governed by rules applicable to pleadings in circuit court.
The pleadings in actions in justice courts, the forms thereof and the rules by which the sufficiency of the pleadings are to be determined, shall...
- 52.320 Counterclaim exceeding jurisdiction; transfer to circuit court; time allowed plaintiff to plead; costs; effect of failure to tender costs.
In all actions instituted in a justice court a defendant shall have the right to plead a counterclaim in excess of the jurisdiction of the...
- 52.410 Trial fee.
(1) Parties to judicial proceedings in justice courts are required to contribute toward the expense of maintaining justice courts, or a particular action or proceeding...
- 52.420 Trial fee payable in advance; effect of failure to pay; recovery of fee as disbursement.
(1) The trial fee in a justice court shall be paid to the justice upon the demand for a jury, and unless so paid the...
- 52.430 State or county exempted from prepaying trial fee; recovery of trial fee.
When the state or any county is a party to a judicial proceeding in a justice court, the state or county need not pay the...
- 52.440 Accounting for and disposition of trial fee.
In a justice court, the trial fee is paid to the justice. The justice shall keep an account of such fees, and by whom paid,...
- 52.510 Postponement of trial.
When a cause is at issue upon a question of fact, the justice must, upon sufficient cause shown on the application of either party, postpone...
- 52.520 Depositions of witnesses as condition to postponement.
An application for the postponement of the trial shall not be granted unless the party applying therefor, if required by the adverse party, consents to...
- 52.530 Change of place of trial.
(1) The justice shall change the place of trial, on motion of either party to the action, when it appears from a supporting affidavit of...
- 52.540 Payment of disbursements for change of venue; subpoenaed witnesses.
(1) The disbursements of the change of venue shall be paid by the party applying therefor, and not taxed as a part of the costs...
- 52.550 When change of venue deemed complete.
Upon the filing of the transcript and papers with the justice to whom the cause has been transferred, the change of venue shall be deemed...
- 52.560 Jurisdiction to cease when title to real property in question; further proceedings in circuit court.
If it appears on the trial of any cause before a justice of the peace from the evidence of either party, or from the pleadings,...
- 52.570 Right to jury trial.
When a cause is at issue upon a question of fact, if either party then demands a jury trial and deposits with the justice such...
- 52.580 Judgment.
When an issue of fact is tried by the justice, it is not necessary that there be any special statement of the facts found or...
- 52.590 Judgment may not determine or affect title to real property.
Although the title to real property may be controverted or questioned in an action in a justice court, the judgment in the action shall in...
- 52.600 Enforcement of justice court judgments generally.
(1) Upon the docketing of a judgment by a justice court, the judgment may be enforced by the justice court in the manner provided in...
- 52.610 Enforcement of judgment given by other justice.
A justice of the peace has authority and power to enforce a judgment given by the predecessor in office, or by a justice whose docket...
- 52.620 Filing transcript of judgment in another county; issuance of execution.
The party entitled to the benefit of a judgment in a justice court may at any time have a certified transcript of the judgment and...
- 52.630 [Amended by 1965 c.619 §27; 1971 c.621 §11; 1975 c.607 §13; 1979 c.833 §14; 1981 c.835 §4; 1983 c.696 §6; 1987 c.586 §20; 1995 c.273 §15; repealed by 1999 c.788 §3 (52.635 enacted in lieu of 52.630)]
- 52.635 Liens based on justice court judgment.
(1) After a judgment that includes a money award is docketed in a justice court, a certified copy of the judgment or a lien record...
- 52.640 Setoff of judgment; application and notice.
A party against whom a judgment is given in a justice court may, upon three days’ notice to the adverse party, apply to the justice...
- 52.650 Right of appeal precludes setoff; procedure to set off judgment of another court.
A judgment proposed as a setoff under ORS 52.640 must be final and no longer subject to appeal. If the judgment was given in another...
- 52.660 Enforcement of setoff judgment stayed.
The justice making the transcript and certificate shall make an entry thereof in the docket of the justice and thereafter all proceedings to enforce the...
- 52.670 Setoff of mutual judgments.
If upon the hearing of the application the justice finds that the judgments are mutual, the justice shall give judgment allowing the proposed setoff.
- 52.680 Setoff of judgments in different amounts; disallowance of setoff.
If there is any difference in the amount of the two judgments, judgment for the difference must be given in favor of the party owning...
- 52.690 [Repealed by 1999 c.788 §5]
- 52.700 Return on execution; to whom directed; duty of officer to execute writ.
An execution issued by a justice must be made returnable within 30 days from the date thereof, and may be directed to the sheriff of...
- 52.710 Renewal of execution; indorsement and entry of renewal.
At any time before the expiration of the return day of the execution, it may be renewed for another period of 30 days, at the...
