Community Court

The Eugene Community Court aims to improve public safety and reduce misdemeanor activity in the downtown core to improve safety and quality of life for all. The process promotes responsibility in participants through a combination of supervised community service and direct connections to social service providers.
The foundation of the Community Court is a team of justice system and social service professionals dedicated to collaborating on cases to reach practical solutions. Representatives of several local social service agencies work with the Community Court team onsite to problem-solve with community members in need of assistance and connect them with services that will address their needs and help them move out of the criminal justice system and toward an improved quality of life.

The NCSC’s robust evaluation compared two groups of individuals who were cited to the Community Court program. One group included people who participated in Community Court, the comparison group did not participate in the program. These two groups were compared on new arrests, new convictions, and new incarcerations within one year of completing their respective programs. Key findings of this study included:

Community Court participants were less likely to be arrested within one year of the program compared to those who did not participate (38% to 66%).
Only one in 5 (20%) Community Court participants were incarcerated within one year of completing the program compared to more than 2 in 5 (45%) in the comparison group.
Community Court participants had far fewer arrests within one year of completing the program than the comparison group (an average of 0.4 arrests for Community Court versus 5.5 for comparison group).
Based on the estimated reduced subsequent convictions, Community Court produces a return on investment to the justice system of approximately $190,000.

Community Court participants have lower health care costs compared to other groups and use fewer of the highest cost services, such as in patient stays and emergency room visits.

When and where is Community Court?

Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Downtown Eugene Public Library
100 W. 10th Ave., First floor conference room

Who May Participate in Community Court?

Individuals are eligible if their offense was committed within the designated geographic area, the offense is identified as an eligible offense, and they do not have any violence in their past criminal history. In addition, other community members may be referred or seek services without a citation or arrest. Every participant will be asked to complete a needs assessment to help create an individualized service plan.

A variety of non-violent offenses are eligible for Community Court. A sample of eligible offenses includes:

Disorderly conduct
Interfering with public transportation
Open container/consumption
Prohibited noise
Theft
Criminal trespass
Who are the Community Court Partners?

Who are the Community Court partners?

The City of Eugene Community Court has partnered with the following providers in a joint effort to provide needed services to community members.

Catholic Community Services
Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI)
Eugene Parks and Open Space
Eugene Police Department
Eugene Public Library
F.U.S.E. (Laurel Hill)
Hourglass
Lane County Behavioral Health
Lane Transit District (LTD)
ShelterCare
Veteran Justice Outreach
White Bird Clinic
Willamette Family Inc.
Work Force Network

The City of Eugene Community Court is a collaborative response to local concerns regarding public safety. Public safety representatives, community members, and service providers work together to address the underlying challenges that may lead to criminal behavior, and give the justice system meaningful options to handle lower-level offenses. Community courts are founded on evidenced-based practices, problem-solving, accountability, community engagement, and alternatives to incarceration.