HOOD RIVER CO. — District Attorney (DA) Matthew Ellis presented to county commissioners Oct. 19 to answer a question posed by Commissioner Leti Moretti: “How many out-of-county residents are violating Oregon DUII laws in Hood River, causing a disproportionate burden on resources?”
Ellis examined every DUII report provided to his office by law enforcement from September 2024 to August 2026. While driver’s licenses provide a home address, he noted that it’s hard to say whether those captured are truly tourists, and that not every case referred to the DA’s office ends up being charged.
“When a case is referred to us, that means that law enforcement gives us a report and has a charging recommendation, but then the attorney reviews that case and makes a final charging decision, which is filed with the court,” Ellis said.
Generally, cases that meet probable cause but are unlikely to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt do not proceed, and the following numbers are only cases that resulted in charges.
Over the nearly two-year period, 391 DUIIs were referred and charged — about 26% of all cases presented in court were DUIIs.
“There is a reason why there’s a lot of defense attorneys who make a very good living just defending DUIIs,” he said.
Out of those 391 DUIIs, 54.2% were committed by people residing outside of Hood River County, including 30% from other Oregon counties, 18 % from Washington, and 5.9% from other states.
DUIIs are one of the most complex misdemeanors to prosecute because they rely heavily on scientific evidence (like blood alcohol levels), objective versus subjective standards (like field sobriety tests and visible signs of intoxication), constitutional issues (like changing laws on search and seizure), as well as safety concerns, statutory restrictions, and ongoing litigation during probation.
“Oregon statutes don’t allow us to plead anything down on a DUII. If we have a weak case, either we try it or we don’t,” Ellis said.
He then lamented the departure of prosecutor Jessica Gordon in September. “Jessica was our grant-funded attorney, exclusively prosecuting DUIIs out of the District Attorney’s Office,” he said. “The remaining attorneys have had to absorb those DUII matters while also handling current caseloads.”
DUII cases “take up more bandwidth than almost anything else, except for like the very, very high-level felony cases,” he said. “They were referred to us at a higher rate than any other crime.”
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