KINGSLEY W.

CLICK
State Court Administrator

INFORMATION ON FILING A
NOTICE OF APPEAL
(CIRCUIT COURT CRIMINAL)

In response to your request, enclosed is information on how to file a notice of appeal. Herein you will
find a standard form of notice of appeal and a form of certificate of service. You will also find the
instructions for completing these forms.

Additional information relating to handling an appeal on your own without an attorney is enclosed as
“ .” You should read this information carefully. A notice of appeal must be submitted
to the Court of Appeals in the manner prescribed in the relevant Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) and
the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure (ORAP). The ORAP rules which apply to the filing of a
notice of appeal are also enclosed.

If you wish to appeal a final trial court judgment, you must file a notice of appeal with the Court of
Appeals. The original of the notice should be filed with the State Court Administrator at the
following address:
ATTN: Records Section
State Court Administrator
Supreme Court Building
1163 State Street
Salem, OR 97301-2563

A notice of appeal from a circuit court judgment must be filed within 30 days from the date the
judgment was entered in the trial court register. Unless an appeal is filed within the time required
by statute, the Court of Appeals will not be able to consider it. “Filed” means that the appeal must be
in the possession of the office of the State Court Administrator on or before the date it is due, or must
be mailed on or before the date it is due by certified or registered mail with proof from the Post Office
of such mailing date. See ORS 19.260(1).

A copy of the trial court judgment you wish to appeal must be attached to the notice of appeal.

Any document filed with the Court of Appeals must be served on all parties to the case. See
ORAP 1.35(2). The document being filed must include a statement of service (“proof of service”)
which states that the document has been served on all parties. Therefore, you must serve a copy of the
notice of appeal on all parties.

PLEASE NOTE: A motion for court-appointed counsel and a motion for the transcript to be
prepared at state expense must be filed with the trial court which entered the judgment that is
being appealed. ORS 138.500.
If you need additional information, call the Records Section at (503) 986-5555.

If you wish to obtain a copy of the ORAP, send a written request with your name and address, along
with payment of $15.00 to:
ATTN: Publications Section
State Court Administrator
Supreme Court Building
1163 State Street
Salem, OR 97301-2563

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING

NOTICE OF APPEAL

CAPTION On line 1 write in your name as is appears in the trial court. You can get this
information by looking at the heading on one of the documents filed in that court.
You will appear in this court as the “Defendant-Appellant”.

TRIAL COURT
NO. The trial court assigned a case number to your case which is written on all of the
documents filed in that court. Fill in that number on the line provided.

SECTION 1:a Fill in your name as the appellant.

SECTION 1:b Give the date the judgment from which you are appealing was entered in the trial
court register. A judgment will show the date it was signed and frequently it will
show the date that it was filed, but for appeal purposes the important date is the date
of entry in the trial court register. If the date of entry does not appear on your copy of
the judgment, you should contact the trial court and request the date of entry. A copy
of the judgment must be attached to your notice of appeal.

SECTION 1:c Fill in the name of the judge who signed the judgment.

SECTION 1:d Fill in the name of the county in which the court entering the judgment is located.

SECTION 2 Fill in your name and address.

SECTION 3 List the name, bar number, address and telephone number of each party’s attorney and
who they represent. If a party is not represented by an attorney, then list the party’s
own name and address.

SECTION 4 Mark the appropriate statement indicating what portions of the trial court file
(“record”) you wish to be reviewed by this court. The first statement designates all
portions of the trial court record be reviewed. The second statement designates only
certain portions of the trial court record be reviewed, in which case, you need to
indicate what portions of the record you wish to have this court review on the lines
provided.
SECTION 5 Explain the basis for the appeal or the issues you will be replying upon to support your
appeal. You only need to complete this statement if you did not designate the entire
record in Section 4. This should only be a brief statement. You will have the chance
to fully explain your case when you file your “brief”.

SECTION 6 Explain why this appeal is filed timely.

SECTION 7 Indicate whether you wish to have the transcript/audio record prepared at appellant’s
expense or at public expense. The audio record may only be prepared at public
expense in criminal proceedings. A motion must be filed with the trial court along
with an affidavit of indigency and the motion must be allowed by the trial court.

SECTION 8 Attach a copy of the judgment you are appealing to the notice of appeal.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING

CERTIFICATE OF FILING

Fill in the date you filed the notice of appeal with the State Court Administrator.

Mark the appropriate method of filing used.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

Fill in the date you served the notice of appeal to the other parties.

You must send a copy of the notice of appeal to the parties which are listed. You will need to
fill in the names and address for the parties you served.

Mark the appropriate method of service you used to serve the parties.

FILE THE NOTICE OF APPEAL WITH THE COURT OF APPEALS BEFORE THE DEADLINE,
AND SEND COPIES OF EVERYTHING YOU FILE WITH THE COURT OF APPEALS TO THE
PARTIES LISTED ON THE CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE.
 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON

STATE OF OREGON, ) TC No.

)
Plaintiff-Respondent, )
v. )
)
, )
)
Defendant-Appellant. ) NOTICE OF APPEAL

1.
(a) hereby gives notice of appeal from the judgment entered on
(b) , by Judge (c) in (d)
County Circuit Court.

2.
The parties to this appeal are:

3.
The names, bar numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers of the parties (or their attorneys if
they are represented by counsel) are as follows:

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT(S): ATTORNEY FOR RESPONDENT(S):

Bar # Bar #
Name Name
Address Address

Phone Phone
 4.

“ Appellant designates the record in its entirety, including the trial court file, all
exhibits, and the record oral proceedings.
“ Appellant designates only the following portions of the record:
“ Trial court file
“ All exhibits
“ Transcript/audio record of the following proceedings:

“ Other

5.

Appellant intends to rely upon the following points:

6.
This appeal is timely and otherwise properly filed before the Court of Appeals because:

7.

Appellant hereby requests copies at “ APPELLANT’S “PUBLIC’S expense of the

transcript/audio record designated in paragraph 4 above. Copies are to be served on the parties to the
appeal listed in paragraph 3 above.

8.
Attached to this notice of appeal is a copy of the judgment being appealed from. Also attached
are copies of any other orders pertinent to determining appellate jurisdiction.

DATE: SIGNATURE:
 CERTIFICATE OF FILING

I certify that on , I filed the original of the notice of appeal with the State
Court Administrator at the following address:
ATTN: Records Section
State Court Administrator
Supreme Court Building
1163 State Street
Salem, OR 97301-2563

by the following method of filing:

“ United States Postal Service, ordinary first class mail.

“ United State Postal Service, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

“ Hand delivery

“ Other (specify):

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on , I served a true copy of the notice of appeal to the following
parties at the addresses set forth below:

“ DISTRICT ATTORNEY:

“ TRIAL COURT ADMINISTRATOR:

“ TRANSCRIPT COORDINATOR:

“ OTHER PARTIES:

by the following method of service:

“ United States Postal Service, ordinary first class mail.

“ United State Postal Service, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.
“ Hand delivery
“ Other (specify):

DATE: SIGNATURE:
 (Page 1 of 5)

IF YOU WANT TO HANDLE YOUR OWN CASE

You are not required to hire a lawyer in order to file an appeal, but we strongly recommend that you consider doing
so. Filing and handling an appeal is not easy. It can seem especially hard to a person who is not a lawyer. The
Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and State Court Administrator's Office will not bend the rules for you if you act
as your own lawyer.

If you wish to have legal advise, you may contact the Oregon State Bar at 503-620-0222 or toll free in Oregon at
1-800-452-8260 for information as to appellate attorneys. For pro bono attorney information, select extension 323.
For the Lawyer Referral Service, select extension 408.

Under ORS 9.320, you have a right to act as your own lawyer. (ORS is a set of books containing all of the laws
passed by the state legislature. These sets are kept in law libraries and some public libraries.) If you are not
represented by a lawyer, your case will not be heard orally by this Court but will be decided on the parties' written
briefs. You are not allowed to represent your husband or wife or any other person or a corporation. Corporations
are required by law to be represented by lawyers.

You must read, learn, and follow all of the laws and rules that tell you how to do an appeal. If you do not follow the
laws and rules, your appeal may be dismissed. If it is dismissed because you did not follow the laws or rules, the
court may never consider your case or decide the points that you want to bring up.

In appeals from state agency orders, the notice of appeal is called a "petition for judicial review."
See ORAP 4.15 and Appendix-E. In these instructions, the term "notice of appeal" refers also to
petitions for judicial review.

LAWS ON APPEAL

If, in spite of all the problems, you still choose to handle your own appeal, you must learn the rules written by the
state legislature:

ORS Chapter 19--for civil appeals from circuit court

ORS Chapter 138--for all criminal and post-conviction appeals
ORS Chapter 183--for most state agency appeals (Motor Vehicles
Division, for example)

If your case involves workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, juvenile, parental rights or other cases
not covered by the general chapters numbered above, then you will need to follow the special laws affecting appeals
in those kinds of cases.

Also, check ORS Chapter 20 on the subject of costs and attorneys' fees, and ORS Chapter 21 on fees generally. You
should know what is contained in those chapters and that the loser on appeal may be responsible for the winner's
costs.

RULES
 (Page 2 of 5)

You will need to consult, very often, the Rules of Appellate Procedure (ORAP) of the Oregon Supreme Court and
Court of Appeals. You may want to buy a copy. To obtain a copy, send a written request with your name and
address, along with payment of $15.00 to:

ATTN: Publications Section

State Court Administrator
Supreme Court Building
1163 State Street
Salem, OR 97301-2563

The Records Section of the State Court Administrator's Office will try to help you understand the rules if you have
questions about what they mean, but they cannot tell you how to handle your case. By law, they cannot give you
legal advice. They will not, in other words, substitute in any way for the lawyer that you have chosen not to hire.

NOTICE OF APPEAL

There are two things that must be done on time to be certain that your case gets to court. If these two things are not
done on time, your case will be automatically dismissed. If that happens, neither the Court of Appeals nor the
Supreme Court will ever consider your case. See ORS 19.270(2). These two things are: 1) file the notice of
appeal; and 2) serve the notice of appeal.

Ordinarily, you have 30 days from the date of entry of the judgment or mailing of the agency order being appealed to
file your appeal. See ORS 19.255. However, certain cases have a different filing time. You must check the right
part of the ORS for the time limit in your particular case.

(1) To "file" a notice of appeal means that it must be received in the State Court Administrator's Office on or
before deadline date. Dropping it in the mail is not enough, unless you go to the post office and mail it to the
State Court Administrator by registered or certified mail, and get proof from the post office of the mailing
date. If you do that, the notice of appeal will be treated as "filed" on the date that it was mailed. See ORS
19.260 and ORAP 1.35. Be sure to retain the proof because if the timeliness of your appeal is in question,
you will be asked to send it in.

(2) To "serve" a notice of appeal means that you must mail or deliver personally a copy of the notice of appeal
to the lawyer or the party on the other side of the case. The notice must be served on all other parties or their
lawyers, no matter how many there are. Service by certified mail is required by statute for certain types of
cases. The copy must, therefore, be mailed within the same time frame for the filing of the notice of appeal
in most instances.

On the original of the notice of appeal that you file with the Court of Appeals, you must include a written and signed
statement that you have served a copy of the notice of appeal on the other side. You must name the person to whom
you mailed it, the address to which you mailed it and the date that you dropped the copy in the mailbox addressed to
that person.

FILING FEES
 (Page 3 of 5)

There is a filing fee of $140 for the following types of cases:

Circuit Court Adoption Circuit Court Traffic Infractions / Violations

Circuit Court Civil Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA)
Circuit Court Domestic Relations Workers’ Compensation
Circuit Court Probate Most Agency review cases

There is NOT a filing fee for the following types of cases:

Circuit Court Criminal Circuit Court Juvenile

Circuit Court Post-Conviction Circuit Court Termination Parental Rights
Circuit Court Habeas Corpus Board of Parole & Post-Prison Supervision
Circuit Court Mental Commitment Psychiatric Security Review Board

For those cases which require a filing fee, the filing fee should accompany the notice of appeal. Checks should be
made payable to the State Court Administrator. The court has the authority to waive or defer payment of the filing
fee on the ground of indigence. If you want to ask the court to waive or defer the filing fees, the court can furnish on
request a form for the appellant to fill out. If the court waives the filing fee, the filing fee need never be paid. If the
court defers the filing fee, you still owe it and if it is not paid by the time the appeal is finished, the unpaid filing fee
becomes a judgment against you. See ORS 21.605(1)(c).

UNDERTAKING ON APPEAL IN CIVIL CASES (TRIAL COURT CASES ONLY)

The appellant (the person who is appealing) is required to file an "undertaking," which is a written promise to
pay the costs incurred by the respondent on appeal if the appellant loses the appeal. The promise must be
supported by a corporate bond, the promise of another person with unencumbered property worth more than
twice the amount of the undertaking, or a cash deposit. The undertaking must be in the amount of $500, unless
the trial court sets a different amount. The trial court may waive the undertaking on the ground of indigence or
for other reasons. The undertaking must be filed in the trial court and a copy served on the opposing party and
on the appellate court. Note that all filings in connection with the undertaking take place in the trial court, not
the appellate court.

RECORD ON APPEAL

Record on Appeal Generally: An appellate court usually will need some or all of the lower court (trial court or
agency) record in order to decide an appeal. The complete lower court record would include the lower court file
(containing all the papers filed with the lower court), exhibits (the evidence offered at trial), and a record of oral
proceedings of hearings and the trial, if a trial was held. The lower court file will always be part of the record
on appeal. You decide in the first instance whether you want to make exhibits and the transcript part of the
record on appeal. The act of informing the appellate court and other parties to the appeal of how much of the
record is to be the record on appeal is called "designating the record."

If you designate less than the complete trial court record as the record on appeal, the other side can designate
additional parts of the record.

Audio Record for Trial Court Case: Neither the lower court nor the appellate court is responsible for getting a
transcript prepared. Usually, the party who designates a transcript is responsible for making arrangements with
 (Page 4 of 5)

the trial court transcript coordinator for preparing it, including payment for it.

MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL

A "motion" is any request by a party that the court take some action. If the other side, at any time, files a motion
to dismiss your appeal, the other side must mail you a copy of that motion. You have 14 days from the date it
was mailed to file and serve a response to that motion. See ORAP 7.05 to 7.30. If you do file a response, the
court will be able to consider your point of view in deciding whether to dismiss the case.

If your appeal is dismissed, either on motion of the other side or on the court's own motion, you will receive a
notice that it has been dismissed. That notice will be in the form of an order.

If your case is dismissed, you have 35 days from the date of the order of dismissal to file and serve a petition for
review with the Oregon Supreme Court under ORAP 9.05. This gives you a chance to tell the Supreme Court
that the Court of Appeals made a mistake when it dismissed your appeal and to seek reinstatement of the appeal.

BRIEFS ON APPEAL

ORAP Section 5 covers the subject of "briefs" completely. A "brief" is a statement of your side of the case.
You must follow the format required by the rules. See ORAP 5.05 through 5.80.

The appealing party's brief must include a statement of the facts of the case. Each statement of fact must refer to
the record and show where that fact appears. If it does not, the court may strike the entire brief. Appeals are for
the purpose of reviewing alleged legal errors committed by the trial court or agency in rulings or motions or in
the final decision. Appeals are not for the purpose of introducing new factual evidence to support your point of
view. Therefore, if you try to include new evidence on appeal, it will not be considered and the court may
decide not to consider your brief at all.

The rules also require that you tell the court, in your brief, what mistake you believe the trial court or agency
made. These are called "assignments of error," and they must be very specific. The rules require that you set
out in the brief the exact words used by the trial court or agency when it made what you claim to be an error.

After each "assignment of error," you have to make your "argument." This is a brief statement of the legal
reasons why the trial court or agency was wrong.

You ordinarily may not include in your brief a statement about anything that has happened after the date of the
trial court judgment or agency order that you are appealing.

NO RIGHT TO MAKE ORAL PRESENTATION

After both your brief and the other side's brief have been filed, you will be informed that the case has been
 (Page 5 of 5)

submitted to the court for decision and the date of the submission. Because you do not have a lawyer, the Court
of Appeals will not hear argument in the case by either side. See ORAP 6.05(2).

This means that, unlike a case where both sides have lawyers, you will not have a chance to talk personally to
the court in a public court session. The court will only read the briefs and the trial court record and then decide
your case. You may, however, make a motion to seek permission to argue. See ORAP 6.10(4).

After your case is submitted for decision, it will ordinarily take from one week to several months for the court to
decide it. Many cases are decided without a full written "opinion." This means that the court may decide your
case without writing any explanation of the reasons for its decision.

You will receive by mail a copy of the court's decision. Any party seeking to obtain review of a Court of
Appeals decision must file a petition for review with the Oregon Supreme Court within 35 days of the date of
the Court of Appeals decision. See ORAP 9.05.

If the Oregon Supreme Court denies your petition for review, or the petition for review filed by the other side,
that is ordinarily the end of the case in the Oregon courts. The Records Section of the State Court
Administrator's Office will issue the "appellate judgment." The appellate judgment is the document that
officially notifies the court or agency from which the appeal was taken of the appellate court's decision and
transmits the case back to the agency or lower court. If a timely petition for review has been filed by any party,
the appellate judgment in the case cannot issue from the Records Section until the Supreme Court decides to
allow or deny review.
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