PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — According to the latest data on civil commitments from Multnomah County’s District Attorney, judges have increased their propensity to rule in favor of commitment, but the county’s Behavioral Health Unit investigators have not increased their case filings.
The recent suicide bombing of the Multnomah Athletic Center (MAC) drew renewed attention to Oregon’s civil commitment laws, which had changed just months before the incident.
Before taking his own life by driving into the MAC with a car full of explosives, 49-year-old Bruce Whitman had multiple interactions with police officers and clinicians and had been hospitalized for mental health issues twice.
His second hospitalization in Feb. 2026 came after a suicide attempt. According to Executive Director of Oregon National Alliance on Mental Illness Chris Bouneff (NAMI), Whitman was hospitalized for 14 days after which the hospital put out a notice of mental illness, triggering an investigation by the county.
Bouneff said the hospital recommended another 14-day stay which would have required agreement by both the county and Whitman.
RELATED | Multnomah County did not pursue civil commitment for MAC bomber
It is unclear whether Whitman consented or not as the county cannot provide HIPPA-protected information. However, if he had not consented, the county would have had the option to pursue civil commitment. According to the District Attorney’s Office, they did not file a case.
In fact, since Oregon’s new law lowering the bar for civil commitments took effect in January, the county has not increased its civil commitment filings. According to data provided by the District Attorney’s Office, in 2025, 76% of civil commitment cases that went to trial ended up with a commitment.
That number went up to 93% during the first four months of 2026 when the new law was in effect. The average of civil commitment hearings, however, has remained steady from 2025 to 2026 with about 20 hearings per week.
According to data provided by the Oregon Judicial Department, the average number of diversion during the first two months of 2026 has not increased when compared to 2025; indicating that the county is also not opting for a voluntary agreement to services as an alternative to civil commitment.
“Four months after the implementation of HB 2005, our civil commitment numbers remain consistent with pre-legislation levels. While current trends are steady, more data and time will be necessary to accurately assess the long-term impact of the change,” a spokesperson for the county said in a written statement.
The statement continued, “All civil commitment investigators receive ongoing training and certification through the Oregon Health Authority. All of Multnomah County’s civil commitment investigators have been trained in the new statute and rules and participated in updated recertification training since HB 2005 was adopted In general, even after Oregon changed its commitment statute, the decision to take away someone’s civil liberties to prevent them from harming themselves remains very difficult and is never made lightly. And that decision does not fall on just the County — or any one entity — to make.”
Bouneff said the lag in filings is to be expected as the law has only just taken effect a few months ago.
“People aren’t capitalizing as much on the new laws as one might hope. And it really is about these different systems that touch the law, from our judges to our district attorneys to our hospitals to our law enforcement partners, really not knowing that the law exists and not knowing how to apply the law,” he said.
Bouneff pointed out that stakeholders and lawmakers are working to understand where the blockages are and whether more training is needed on the new law to allow all of the involved parties to take full advantage of the changes.
He said the MAC bombing is a tragic example of a preventable situation that this new law was meant to address.
“There seems to still be an unwillingness to, again, seize the opportunity that new criteria have afforded us and the new law hasn’t afforded us. Some of that is understandable. People are operating as if it was prior to January 1, they’re conditioned to doing that, and to embrace this opportunity is going to take some work,” he said.
Bouneff believes part of the needed training would likely originate at the Oregon Health Authority, which is responsible for overseeing county behavioral health units whose investigators make the decision on whether or not to pursue civil commitment.
He also noted that in some counties, civil commitment prosecutors may not be entirely familiar with the changes to the law. Multnomah County has created a specific position to address the law change and has hired, Nikkie Frampton, a former nurse turned prosecutor to manage those cases.
“I did work in the hospital during COVID, and then I was an ER nurse and also worked for Elder Place here in Portland, and then I came back to being a prosecutor–I was a prosecutor in Utah–but that’s one of the reasons why when this position…became part of the DA’s office, it was something I was interested in; because I’ve seen mental illness in the hospitals and how it affects not only families, but the patients the staff, and how it’s kind of become a revolving door if no one’s willing to step in and help,” she said during an interview with KATU.
Though she was not practicing law in Oregon prior to the new law passing, she said she has noticed judges refer to the law changes and point out that, while under previous laws they would not have committed, under the new law they will.
“I think many times when we’re getting to the point of contested hearing, the families have been basically through every other stage. They’ve called police multiple times, they’ve gone through the behavioral health units, they’ve both done voluntary admissions, and now we’re finally here, where we’re at an involuntary civil commitment, and many of them are just grateful that they finally get to be able to be helped; not only for themselves but also for the patient,” she said.
Frampton pointed out that it’s an important time to be working in the space, especially for someone with knowledge and understanding of the medical field, because the first cases post-law change are setting precedent in the state.
“This is a very nuanced section of the law. Most people in this office do not fully understand it. It is its own section of the law and a lot of people don’t have the medical background in a civil commitment hearing, we’re talking to a doctor about their treatment plans, about their medications, and if you don’t understand that, it’s hard to ask the right questions,” she said.
Frampton is also making a plea for funding from the county, as her position–worth $222,680 a year–is on the chopping block in the current proposed county budget.
The County Chair provided KATU with the following statement, “the District Attorney is an independently elected official with control over what positions to prioritize or reduce within the budget allocated to his office. That being said, I did prioritize funding his office’s top level request in my budget, which wasn’t the civil commitment prosecutor. The DA’s office has seen a steady increase in funding over recent years that is no longer sustainable when the county is facing multiple years of budget deficits. The proposed reductions in my budget are in line with the shared sacrifices being asked of so many County departments.”
A budget amendment just submitted by County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards would restore that funding by increasing Tobacco retail license fees.