Oregon Felony Sentencing Guidelines

The Oregon felony sentencing guidelines grid is a grid (or matrix) designed to guide Oregon courts with regard to jail, prison, and probation sentences in felony cases.

Common questions that people charged with felonies include:

• “Am I going to jail?”
• “How long am I going to jail?”
• “Am I going to prison?”
• “How long am I going to prison?”

To answer these questions, attorneys and judges look to the Oregon Felony Sentencing Guidelines grid below:

A printable PDF copy of the Oregon Sentencing Guidelines is available here.

How is the Oregon Felony Sentencing Guidelines grid used?

Nearly every Oregon felony charge falls within an individual “box” on the grid. Each box represents a specific amount of days of custody units (days in jail or months in prison) and an related length of supervised probation.

Where exactly a defendant falls on the guidelines depends on two factors:

1. The defendant’s criminal history, and
2. The crime seriousness of the felony crime that the defendant is being sentenced for.

If the defendant has no criminal history, then their sentence will fall much farther right on the grid. As the defendant’s criminal history increases (the number of convictions or seriousness of prior convictions), they move towards the left on the grid. Also, the crime seriousness goes from 1 to 11 and in an upward direction on the grid. Therefore, defendant that has  history of prior person felonies and is currently charged with a serious felony will move up and to the left– to a much more serious prison sentence.

Oregon Felony Sentences are
Serious and Complex

If you or someone you care about has been charged with a felony, contact an experienced Oregon criminal defense attorney. While the guidelines look simple (and colorful), you should not attempt to predict your jail or prison sentence simply by looking at the grid. Also, there are mitigating factors which can result in upward and downward departures that can cause sentences to vary wildly. An attorney can help explain how this might keep you out of jail or reduce your prison sentence.