Oregon

Type of Oversight:
Complaints Investigation; Investigation of Misconduct; Inspection
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Branch of Government:
Executive

Year Established:
Originally established in 1977 but was defunded in the 1990s; the office was reinstated with funding in 2022.

More Information:

Last Updated 11/26/2025

Office of Corrections Ombudsman (the “Ombudsman”)

Budget

$365,928 (FY 2022-23)

Staffing

One employee, the Ombudsman. The role is currently held by Kristina Rice.

State Prison Profile

Oregon has 12 state prison facilities and incarcerates approximately 12,075 people in state prisons. The state prison system is run by the Oregon Department of Corrections. 

Authority

Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 423

  • Structure: The Ombudsman is appointed by the Governor, and the office is structurally placed within the Governor’s office, with the Ombudsman being considered a Governor’s office employee. With adequate funding, the ombudsman is authorized to hire a deputy ombudsman and other employees. 
  • Authorized Activities: The Ombudsman has the power to investigate, on complaint or on the Ombudsman’s own motion, any action by the Department or any employee. The Ombudsman can investigate any alleged action that is against the law or Department practice, inadequately explained when reasons should have been revealed, inefficiently performed or unreasonable, unfair, or otherwise objectionable, and can recommend actions for the Department or employee. If requested, the Department shall inform the Ombudsman about any action or inaction taken regarding the recommendations, and, after some time has elapsed, the Ombudsman may issue a report. The Ombudsman can also recommend any needed statutory changes to the Legislative Assembly.
  • Access: The Ombudsman can inspect any prison facility without notice, and the Ombudsman can issue subpoenas to examine any Department records or require any person to appear, to give sworn testimony or to produce evidence reasonable to an inquiry. The Ombudsman may also receive confidential letters from incarcerated people. Anyone who interferes with the Ombudsman’s right of access or ability to carry out duties, or who willfully misleads the Ombudsman, can be subjected to contempt proceedings.

Activities

In September 2023, the previous Ombudsman issued a report regarding phone communications between people in prison and their loved ones due to high phone rates and overly complicated signup requirements and recommended that Oregon provide free phone calls for prisoners. That report was provided to prison agency officials and the Governor’s Office but is not publicly available. 

The current Ombudsman has prioritized improving responsiveness to complaints, working through a backlog of over 900 letters from incarcerated people and creating a web form for receiving new complaints. The Ombudsman also developed an internal database and tracking system to map trends in complaints. Additionally, within the first year of her appointment, the current Ombudsman conducted site visits to all of Oregon’s 12 prison facilities. She developed an online complaint form as the office’s web landing page, and is working to create a formal website for the Ombuds’ office. The Office is currently compiling data for a five-year Deaths in Custody review, focusing primarily on suicides. The report is expected to be publicly available in early 2026. 

Reports

As of November 2025, no public reports are available, though a report on the cost of phone communications was issued to government leaders in September 2023.

Organizational History

The Office has been authorized in state statute since the 1970s, but it had for years been unfunded and unfilled. In 2021, as the Department faced a growing number of individual and class-action lawsuits from prisoners claiming they were not adequately protected against the coronavirus pandemic, state lawmakers began focusing on prison health care and transparency. 

In 2022, the lawmakers included funding in the state budget to again employ an Ombudsman. Adrian Wulff was hired as Ombudsman in 2022, but he was fired in November 2024. Wulff consistently asked for more support and staff while he was Ombudsman, and news reports suggest that there was tension between him and the Governor’s Office, as well as with the corrections department. The current Ombudsman, Kristina Rice, was appointed in March 2025.  

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