​Legislative minutes summarize committee hearings and highlight the major points of discussion. They reflect testimony by legislators and interested parties on proposed legislative acts. They include date and time of hearing, individuals present, and measures heard. The minutes are not a transcription of the audio records.

Dates: 1926-present (Committee minutes are not fully represented until 1961, tape logs replace minutes in 2007.) Audio records begin in 1957 and consist of reel-to-reel tapes, dictation tapes (1967-69), cassette tapes (1981-2007), and digital audio recordings (2007-present).

Arrangement: House, Senate or Joint committee, and then in chronological order by hearing date.

​Legislative exhibits include written testimonies, proposed amendments, letters regarding bills, reports, measure analyses, and publications. Exhibits are submitted by legislators, committee staff, and witnesses.

Dates: 1926-present (Committee exhibits are not fully represented until 1961.)

Arrangement: House, Senate or Joint committee, and then by bill number, date, letter, or subject.

Legislative floor proceeding audio tapes document House and Senate floor debates during the regular sessions of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. They consist of reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes. Tape logs are available for most sessions.

Dates: 1963-present (The House tapes begin in 1963, the Senate in 1973.)

Arrangement: chronological by year, and then by tape number.

​Emergency board minutes summarize hearings and highlight the major points of discussion. The minutes include date of hearing, individuals present, and hearings on state fiscal and budgetary matters. The Emergency Board minutes are not a transcription of the audio records.

The Emergency Board audio tapes begin in 1969 and consist of reel-to-reel tapes. Audio tapes are sometimes indexed in tape logs.

Dates: 1913-2010

Arrangement: Chronological by hearing date.

​Original bill files are compilations of the original measure with subsequent, engrossed versions which add and delete words, phrases, and sections as they go through the legislative process. If the measure passed, its file is topped with the enrolled copy of the bill.

The file can also include committee reports (a daily notice of committee actions on measures), fiscal analysis, history sheets, printed amendments, and staff measure analysis (a summary of the issues and expected impact of the bill).

Dates: 1856-present

Arrangement: chronological by year, and then by bill number.

​​ 1973-74 Motor Vehicle Code revision

1969-73 Land Use Law

1969-71 Bottle Bill

1967-72 Criminal Law Revision Commission

1967-69 Oregon Beach Bill

1967 Minimum Wage Law

1964-68 Probate Law Revision Advisory Committee

1981 Legislative Redistricting Maps

1991 Legislative Redistricting Maps

2001 Legislative Redistricting Maps

1. Look at the end of the ORS section where the Oregon Laws (regular or special session) chapter and years are cited in parenthesis. For research of legislative history prior to 1953 look in the ORS, 1953 Reviser's Notes, to find the Oregon Laws chapter and year.
2. Look up the chapter in the Oregon Laws for that year. The bill number is cited at the beginning of the chapter.
3. Look at the legislative calendar in the same year's Senate and House Journal. The calendar shows which legislative committees the bill went through. Make a note of dates in committee from the "date of referral" to the "date of do pass." Do an inclusive search through the minutes. Do not depend upon the dates cited in the calendar or in the committee clerk's index at the beginning of most committee minutes.

• Clackamas County Law Library
  
• Lewis & Clark Law School
• Multnomah Law Library
• University of Oregon Law Library​​
• Washington County Law Library