Legislative exhibits are placed in separate files, in conjunction with the minutes, and are arranged by bill number, date, letter or subject. They include written testimonies, proposed amendments, letters regarding bills, reports, measure analysis, publications and related material. Exhibits are submitted by legislators, committee staff, and witnesses.

Legislative minutes are arranged by House, Senate or Joint committee and thereunder, in chronological order by hearing date. The minutes include date and time of hearing, individuals present, and measures heard. They summarize committee hearings and highlight the major points of discussion. They reflect discussion and testimony by legislators and interested parties on proposed legislative acts. The legislative minutes are not a transcription of the audio tapes.

The legislative committee audio tapes begin in 1957 and consist of reel-to-reel tapes, dictation tapes (1967-69), cassette tapes (1981-2007), and now digital audio recordings. Audio tapes are sometimes indexed in minutes or tape logs. The reference staff will duplicate tapes (except dictation tapes) for sale. There will be an additional speed change fee if a cassette copy is requested from an original reel-to-reel.

The legislative floor proceeding audio tapes are arranged by House or Senate, there under, chronological by date. They document the House and Senate floor debates during the regular sessions of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. The House tapes begin in 1963, the Senate in 1973. They consist of reel-to-reel tapes and cassette tapes. Tape logs are available for most sessions.

Early legislative records in the Oregon State Archives begin with the 1843 Legislative Committee which drafted the Organic Laws and created Oregon's Provisional Government. Check Oregon Statutes, Laws, and Journals in the Oregon State Archives Reference Library (below) for resources prior to the keeping of legislative committee records (e.g. minutes, exhibits) which are the primary source for finding legislative history.

In the late 1920s the Oregon Legislative Assembly began keeping committee minutes and exhibits. The Archives has minutes and exhibits of the Interim Workmen's Compensation Committee for 1926-27. These records do not become continuous until 1961 when the Oregon Legislative Assembly passed a law requiring the deposit of legislative records with the State Archivist.

Research in legislative records requires a bill number and year. With only the Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) number follow these steps:

Check with the reference section of the Oregon State Archives to see if a legislative bill has been researched by the reference staff. Research on 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 bills are located on this website​.

In addition to Legislative Assembly records other agency records may be useful in researching legislative history, such as records of the Office of the Governor, the Department of Justice, and The Council on Court Procedures.

​These libraries have legislative committee minutes and exhibits on microfilm:

Oregon Revised Statutes, 1953, Annotations, Reviser's Notes. 2 vols. Statute Revision Council, State of Oregon, 1953. 

Oregon Revised Statutes, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Editions, Legislative Counsel Committee, State of Oregon. 

Oregon Laws, Senate and House Journals, Messages and Documents, 1843-2007, State of Oregon. 

Shepard's Oregon Citations, Cases, Statutes, 1937-1957. 2 vols. The Frank Shepard Company. 

General Laws of Oregon, 1845-1864. Compiled and Annotated by M. P. Deady, 1866. 

General Laws of Oregon, 1843-1872. Compiled and Annotated by Matthew P. Deady and Lafayette Lane, 1874. 

The Statutes of Oregon. 1855. 

Hill's Annotated Laws of Oregon, compiled and annotated by William Lair Hill, 1887, 2 vols. and 1892 (2d Ed. 2 vols). 

Bellinger and Cotton's Annotated Codes and Statutes of Oregon. Compiled by Charles B. Bellinger and William W. Cotton, 1902. 2 vols. 

Lord's Oregon Laws. Compiled by William Paine Lord and Richard Ward Montague, 1909. 3 vols. 

Oregon Laws. Compiled and Annotated by Conrad Patrick Olson, 1920. 2 vols. 

Oregon Code Annotated. Compiled under the Supervision of the Supreme Court of Oregon, Chief Justice Oliver P. Coshow, 1930. 5 vols. 

Oregon Compiled Laws Annotated. Compiled, Annotated and Indexed by the Publisher's Editorial Staff under the Supervision of the Supreme Court of Oregon, Bryan Goodenough, Code Commissioner, 1940. 10 vols.

The original bill file (or original measure folder) is a compilation of the original measure with subsequent engrossed versions and, if it passed, topped with the enrolled copy of the bill. The bill file can also include committee reports, printed amendments, history sheets, fiscal analysis and staff measure analysis. The committee report is a daily notice of committee actions on measures. The staff measure analysis summarizes the issues and expected impact of the bill. The engrossed versions of the measure add and delete words, phrases, and sections as they go through the legislative process.

Reference staff will research one legislative bills per request. Complete the Legislative Rec​ords Request Form​ to get started. ​

Depending on the volume of requests, those involving a large amount of material to be copied will be done as time permits. Do not send cash or checks with your request. Email, letters, phone calls and walk-in inquiries are welcome.

We charge for legislative bill tracing as well as photocopying and tape duplication (see Fees listed to the right).​

Legislative minutes on this website start with the 1991 Regular Session​. They are either in electronic form or scanned using Optical Character Recognition technology. The technology, although advanced, will still not translate all characters correctly. You may note incorrect spelling of words and formatting errors.

This information is provided as-is. The original legislative records described above are housed at the Oregon State Archives.