Oregon's highest court is the supreme court, consisting of seven justices who elect one of their number to serve as chief justice. It accepts cases on review from the 10-judge court of appeals, which has exclusive jurisdiction over all criminal and civil appeals from lower courts and over certain actions of state agencies. Circuit courts and tax courts are the trial courts of original jurisdiction for civil and criminal matters. The 30 more-populous counties also have district courts, which hear minor civil, criminal, and traffic matters. In 1998, the circuit courts and district courts were merged; the circuit courts are thus the only state-level trial courts. Thirty localities retain justices of the peace, also with jurisdiction over minor cases. State judges and local justices of the peace are elected by nonpartisan ballot for six-year terms.
Oregon's penal system is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections. There were 11,077 inmates in state correctional facilities as of June 2001, an increase of 7.4% over the previous year. The state's incarceration rate stood at 319 per 100,000 population. As measured by the FBI Crime Index, Oregon's total crime rate in 2001, stood at 5,044.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, including a total of 10,650 violent crimes and 164,524 crimes against property in that year. Oregon imposes the death penalty, and there were 29 persons under sentence of death in 2003. There have been two executions in Oregon since 1977.