Oregon State Government
Oregon's state government has three branches or parts: the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch.
Legislative Branch
The Oregon Legislature is the same thing as the legislative branch. The Senate and the House of Representatives are responsible for making or changing laws. Thirty Senators serve in the Senate and sixty Representatives serve in the House of Representatives.You live in a particular district that is represented by one Senator and one Representative. The districts are based on the number of people living there. In Portland, the Senate and House districts are geographically much smaller than the districts in Eastern Oregon.
The Legislature meets every other year in the state's Capitol which is in Salem.
Executive Branch
Six statewide officials are elected to manage the executive branch of government. The officials are the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Treasurer, the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Labor and Industries and the Superintendent of Public Education.The Governor is the leader and is responsible for planning and coordinating the executive branch.
Judicial Branch
Oregon's judicial branch
is made up of different courts. They are responsible for understanding the laws
that the legislative branch makes. The following courts make up the judicial
branch:
The Supreme Court has the
most authority and they regulate the lower courts in Oregon. The Supreme Court
makes sure that all laws follow Oregon's Constitution.The Circuit Courts
are the first courts that hear a legal case. If the decision is not accepted
by both parties, one can ask the Court of Appeals to hear the case again. The
Supreme Court selects which cases, decided by the Court of Appeals, to hear.
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, their decision is final.
The Tax Court is the only court that is able to make decision in cases involving
tax issues such as income tax and property tax.