Involuntary mental-health commitments quietly jumped across Oregon in May, with Multnomah County leading the charge and pushing statewide numbers to heights not seen in years. Whether this is a temporary spike or the new normal under a recently revamped state law is still anyone’s guess, and courts, advocates and public-health officials are watching closely to see if treatment capacity can keep up.
Court records show there were 51 civil commitments statewide in May, the highest monthly total since at least January 2022, with a statewide commitment rate of about 7.5% that month. Multnomah County alone accounted for 22 of those commitments, roughly 13.4% of cases started there in May. The Oregon Judicial Department and Oregon Health Authority plan a fuller assessment later this year, according to OPB.
What changed under HB 2005
House Bill 2005, passed in 2025 and effective in January, rewrote the standards judges use when deciding whether to order involuntary mental-health treatment. Instead of demanding proof that someone poses an immediately imminent threat, the law lets courts weigh a person’s past behavior and the likelihood that, without treatment, the person could become dangerous in the near future. HB 2005 also put money and siting rules on the table to expand community treatment options and set timelines for some court-ordered restoration programs, according to the Oregon Legislature.
Channa Newell, a lawyer for the Oregon Judicial Department, told lawmakers the agency is “presenting this with a little bit of trepidation, a little bit of hesitation” and added that “we’re not seeing more people coming in the door,” even though a higher share of hearings is now ending in commitments. Newell said judges, attorneys and providers seem to be getting more comfortable using the new legal criteria, which might help explain the uptick, according to OPB…