First Advisor
Brian Renauer
Term of Graduation
January 2026
Date of Publication
6-1-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
Subjects
Criminal Justice, Disparity, Law, Pretrial Release
Physical Description
1 online resource ( pages)
Abstract
AbstractOregon’s pretrial system operates under a common statewide legal framework, yet detention and release outcomes do not appear fully consistent across jurisdictions. Earlier research on pretrial decision-making has largely focused on judicial discretion, individual-level legal factors, and the use of risk assessment tools, while giving less attention to the district-level environments in which those decisions are made. This study examines whether variation in institutional capacity, political context, demographic composition, and socioeconomic conditions corresponds with differences in pretrial outcomes across Oregon’s circuit court districts. The study draws from focal concerns theory, racial threat perspectives, and organizational approaches to court decision-making. Rather than treating geography as a passive backdrop, circuit court districts are viewed as institutional settings shaped by local political climates, resource limitations, jail capacity, and administrative routines. Particular attention is given to district-level variation in overall pretrial restrictiveness and in racial and ethnic disparities tied to detention or monetary bail outcomes. The analysis uses administrative records assembled as part of a statewide evaluation of Oregon’s pretrial system conducted through the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission and Portland State University. Individual booking and release records were aggregated to the district level for the years 2017 through 2019. The primary outcome measure captures the proportion of cases resulting in detention or monetary bail, while racial and ethnic disparities are examined through Black and Hispanic relative rate index (RRI) measures comparing minority defendants with White defendants in the same district. Independent variables include jail capacity, unemployment, political context, demographic composition, arrest rates, and the presence of pretrial programs. Descriptive analyses and ordinary least squares regression models with clustered standard errors were conducted using Stata. The findings point to substantial variation across Oregon’s circuit court districts, despite the presence of uniform statewide statutes governing pretrial release and detention decisions. Political context and unemployment appear more consistently related to racial and ethnic disparities than to overall levels of detention or monetary bail. The multivariate models provide comparatively weak evidence that district-level institutional characteristics strongly predict overall pretrial restrictiveness, though several contextual variables show more consistent relationships with Hispanic disparity measures. Findings tied to Black RRI are less stable and appear sensitive to low base rates in districts with relatively small Black populations. Taken together, the results suggest that formal legal rules alone do not fully explain how pretrial outcomes are produced across Oregon. Local institutional environments, political climates, and structural conditions appear to shape detention practices in uneven ways across districts operating under the same statutory framework. Although the findings are exploratory and limited by the small number of district-level observations, the study highlights the importance of organizational context and geography in understanding pretrial justice outcomes in Oregon.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Recommended Citation
Loomis, Ethan Patrick, "Justice by Geography: District-Level Variation in Pretrial Release Outcomes Across Oregon" (2026). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 7125.