What is a Judge Pro Tem or Judicial Referee?
Similar to using physician assistants and nurse practitioners or adjunct professors to offset the workload in other professions, the judicial system uses judge pro tem / referees to manage the high volume of cases. A judge pro tem / referee hear specific cases to help manage the workload across the court system. Judge pro tems have similar credentials, licenses and education to practice law as judges.
Judge pro tem judges are appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court at the request of the Presiding Judge in each County. These appointments last three years and are based on the needs of the court. In other words, pro tem judges are judges but with a limited appointment duration. In Multnomah County, judge pro tems cover a large portion of the dockets as there is a high need.
For example, in the juvenile court, there are five judge pro tems who also sit as referees. Our courtrooms are located at the Juvenile Justice Complex. We are all employed by the Oregon Judicial Department and we are part of the Family Law Bench. We hear most of the same cases that the Circuit Court Judges except that we hear most of the juvenile cases. Judge pro tem judgments can be appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals. We also sit as referees. When we issue an order as a referee, the hearings can be reheard by Judges of the Circuit Court.
Why does it matter? In juvenile court it rarely matters because all of the judge pro tem / referees are experts in juvenile law and working with families and children.
