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Collections



If you have received a letter from a collection agency about your court debt, or been told by a court clerk that you are in collections, please contact the collection agency directly. Court debt is assigned out to collections if the court has ordered you to pay fees/fines and you have not either paid the debt in full within 30 days, or you have not been set up on a payment plan. Case balance debt can be considered delinquent 30 days after the date of the court order.

Oregon law (ORS 1.202)  requires the court to add a fee to any judgment that includes money owed to the court. Examples of money owed include filing fees on a civil or family law case, traffic fines, and criminal fines.  The fee is subject to be added when the court establishes a payment plan that lasts longer than 1 year to pay the total balance in full.  A fee will also be added to any case balance that gets referred out for collections.​

​If your account becomes delinquent, it will be referred to a collection agency and collection fees will be added to your case. The collection agency will notify you of the assignment of your account. For additional information, contact the appropriate collection agency: 
  • Oregon Department of Revenue (DOR) - 1-877-222-2346
  • Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson - 1-877-242-9467
​If you have multiple cases, they might be referred to different collection agencies. If you do not have information about which agency has your debt, contact the court.

If you were notified by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that your license was suspended due to unpaid citations or failing to appear, you will either need to pay the court fines in full or set up a payment plan with the collection agency that has your debt. The DMV should be able to tell you which case numbers at which courts are affecting your license. Please have this information available if you call the court or collection agency.

You will need to obtain a “release of license sanction" from the court, which is normally sent electronically to the Oregon DMV one business day after you pay in full.  You will also need to pay a Reinstatement Fee with the Oregon DMV​. 

NOTE: If you clear the court's license sanction BEFORE the date the suspension goes into effect (noted in your letter from the DMV), you will not have to pay the additional Reistatement Fee to the DMV.)

​Even if your driver's license is from a state other than Oregon, suspensions based on Oregon offenses must be cleared through the Oregon DMV. Contact your own state's DMV for questions on how to show them that driving privileges have been reinstated in Oregon.​

​If you received a letter stating your tax refund was intercepted, you can follow the instructions in the letter, or contact the Oregon Judicial Department Refund Offset Program directly via email at OJD.TaxOffset@ojd.state.or.us​ or by calling 1-888-564-2828, option #3. Provide as much detail as possible, most of which is provided in the letter you received. The Refund Offset Program will respond to your email or message within 48 hours. Please wait to hear from them before contacting the court. 





Collection Agencies

If you have received a letter from a 3rd party collection agency in regards to money you owe to the court, please follow the instructions on the letter or contact the agency directly.