PRINTABLE MCDA QUICK FACTS

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About the Agency

Overview
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office (MCDA) prosecutes people who commit state criminal law violations in Multnomah County. The core work of MCDA is to uphold the rule of law by providing timely, fair, appropriate, and just accountability for people who engage in criminal activity and to provide dedicated, compassionate, and trauma-informed guidance and support to victims of crime.

Mission
MCDA strives for justice and equitable outcomes in the pursuit of greater public safety for all. MCDA carries out its responsibilities with integrity and humility. We are a learning organization guided by evidence-based research. We are committed to criminal justice reform and building trust.

Budget
The FY 2024 adopted budget for MCDA is $50.3 million.

Role in the Public Safety System

 

Staffing

The MCDA team is composed of more than 250 dedicated professionals – 34% are attorneys and the remaining 76% are non-attorneys (legal assistants, victim advocates, finance specialists, IT, support staff, etc.). MCDA is proud of its diversity. The majority of its workforce is women, and the agency is more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity than the population of Multnomah County and the state of Oregon as a whole. 

      Staff by Self-Reported Gender             Staff by Self-Reported Ethnicity

 

MCDA Attorneys

After several years of no increases in Deputy District Attorney positions, MCDA began seeing incremental increases starting in 2021. Under DA Schmidt, DDA positions have increased 17% in three years.

Despite the increases, a 2022 case weight analysis performed by the Coraggio Group found that MCDA is 25% below adequate staffing levels for deputy district attorneys.

The average felony caseload size per prosecutor is 108.

 

Prosecution Rate

Issuance Rates
Prosecution is measured by Issuance Rate, which is the percentage of cases referred to MCDA by law enforcement that result in charges being issued. The 2023 overall issuance rate (felonies + misdemeanors) is 72%, which is a seven-year high. Of the cases that MCDA receives where prosecutors are not able to issue charges, the primary reason is some level of insufficient evidence. 

 

Programs

STEP Court

STEP Court is a collaboration between MCDA and the Multnomah County Circuit Court in response to the urgent need to advance public safety with a targeted approach to violent crime. The program provides court-directed supervision and a wide variety of treatment to eligible individuals convicted of Assault I or Robbery I with substance use, mental health concerns, or cognitive behavioral issues underlying their criminal behavior. STEP Court uses an evidence-based approach to reduce the likelihood that an individual will re-offend, meaning fewer victims and safer communities. Victims also have input into the selection of defendant participation.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is a victim-centered approach to justice that utilizes community-based, restorative resolutions in the aftermath of a crime in order to foster healing for victims and accountability for those responsible for the harm. Through a grant from the Criminal Justice Commission, MCDA partnered with The Insight Alliance to create the Restorative Roots Project. Restorative justice programs like this not only create safer outcomes for communities, but also lead to enhanced feelings of safety and satisfaction for participating victims and survivors.

Access Attorney Program

Serving our communities requires knowing their people, their needs, and their challenges, advantages, and character. The Multnomah County Access Attorney Program (MAAP) connects public-facing attorneys directly with discrete, geographically defined areas and the communities therein. By removing prosecutors from their traditional, law enforcement-centered setting and placing them directly into neighborhoods, we reduce barriers to justice, encourage participation with the system, and develop better strategies to meaningfully improve public safety.

MCDA currently has four MAAP attorneys, each assigned to a different area:

• Old Town
• Rockwood
• Hazelwood
• St. Johns / Eliot