QuickTake:

The findings say legislative districts that contain a prison get an unfair advantage, because of the way the state defines where an inmate lives.

Voters in Salem, eastern Oregon and other areas with prisons have a greater say in the state House than other Oregonians because of how the state calculates where incarcerated Oregonians reside, according to a report released by advocates Wednesday, July 23.

The report from the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative argues that the state needs to adjust its redistricting process before the 2030 Census to count incarcerated people as living at their most recent address, not where they’re serving their sentences. People convicted of felonies in Oregon lose their voting rights until they’ve completed their sentences.

“This gives residents of state legislative districts that contain correctional facilities a particularly loud voice in government, allowing them to have an outsized influence on debates about childcare and school funding, food stamps, expanding medical release for incarcerated people and more, at the expense of nearly every other person in the state,” the report reads.

The findings follow a December 2024 report from the federal Census Bureau, which reported that states are requesting more support around the issue of counting prisoners. The federal government’s current policy of defining residency counts people by where they “live and sleep most of the time,” but the new report says that nearly half of Americans live in an area where local inmate populations are not automatically included for redistricting, including states like California, Montana, Maine and Pennsylvania.

The report’s authors point to similar efforts to adjust counting of incarcerated populations in cities like Salem and Pendleton, as well as Oregon’s constitution, which says that confinement in a public prison does not change a person’s residency when it comes to voting. They say the state’s existing practices particularly inflate seven House districts with prisons in their area, watering down the equal representation of Black and Native communities who are often disproportionately incarcerated.

The most extreme example is in the sprawling 60th House District, represented by Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane. It stretches along most of Oregon’s border with Idaho and extends to Deschutes County in central Oregon. 

More than 3,800 residents, 5.4% of the district’s population, are incarcerated in correctional facilities in the district, including Snake River Correctional Facility, Warner Creek Correctional Facility and the Powder River Correctional Facility. More than half of the Black people counted in his district were part of local correctional facilities, according to the report. Owens did not respond to text messages Wednesday seeking comment.

“That means that just 95 residents of District 60 have as much political clout as 100 residents in other districts,” the report says. “That imbalance in representation comes from the state choosing to redistrict based on census numbers that don’t match the reality of where people live.”

Oregon’s House Districts are drawn with the goal of each representing 70,621 citizens.

Here are the identified districts and the percentages of their incarcerated population:

Could a failed bill get new legs?

Oregon was on the verge of making changes to its redistricting process that the Prison Policy Initiative supported this past legislative session through House Bill 2250. The bill would have given the Department of Corrections 10 months per incarcerated person to obtain information about their last county of residences.

A similar bill that good government advocates like the Portland-based Common Cause Oregon supported was House Bill 2704, which was introduced in January and asked for addresses instead. It never got a hearing.  

House Bill 2250 had two lead sponsors, Sen. James Manning Jr. and Rep. Lisa Fragala, both Eugene Democrats. Fragala told the Capital Chronicle that she planned to try and reintroduce the bill in a future session after identifying “some components” of the bill that needed “additional work.”

“These districts fall short of the state’s redistricting standards,” Fragala said in a written statement about the report. “Adjusting how incarcerated individuals are counted … would bring Oregon one step closer to enacting the constitutional ideals of equal representation.”

State Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, told the Capital Chronicle he found no issues with the state’s current approach. 

“We count people where they reside,” said Mannix, who represents the 21st House District in north Salem. “And if they reside in a corrections facility, that’s the way it goes.”

Oregon House districts with the highest prison population:

  • The 60th House District, which includes Baker, Grant, Harney, Lake and Malheur counties and a part of Deschutes County: 5.4% 
  • The 21st House District, which includes a part of Marion County: 2.8% 
  • The 17th House District, which includes parts of Linn and Marion counties: 2.7% 
  • The 58th House District, which includes Union and Wallowa counties and part of Umatilla County: 2.7% 
  • The 57th House District, which includes Gilliam, Morrow, Sherman and Wheeler counties and parts of Clackamas, Jefferson, Marion, Umatilla, and Wasco counties: 2.7% 
  • The 24th House District, which includes parts of Polk and Yamhill counties: 2.6%
  • The 26th House District, which includes parts of Yamhill, Washington and Clackamas counties: 2.2%

Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri is a reporter based in Salem, Oregon covering Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon Legislature. He grew up in the Bay Area, California and went on to study at UCLA, reporting for the Daily Bruin until graduating in March 2025. Previously, he was a reporting intern covering criminal justice and health for CalMatters in Sacramento, California. He is always eager to tell stories that illuminate how complex and intricate policies from state government can help shape the lives of everyday Oregonians.