Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725 (2026)

Standards for sentencing of dangerous offenders

✓ current as of May 2026
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      161.725 Standards for sentencing of dangerous offenders. (1) Subject to the provisions of ORS 161.737, the maximum term of an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for a dangerous offender is 30 years, if because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confined correctional treatment or custody is required for the protection of the public and one or more of the following grounds exist:

      (a) The defendant is being sentenced for a Class A felony and the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward crimes that seriously endanger the life or safety of another.

      (b) The defendant is being sentenced for a felony that seriously endangered the life or safety of another, the defendant has been previously convicted of a felony not related to the instant crime as a single criminal episode and the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward crimes that seriously endanger the life or safety of another.

      (c) The defendant is being sentenced for a felony that seriously endangered the life or safety of another, the defendant has previously engaged in unlawful conduct not related to the instant crime as a single criminal episode that seriously endangered the life or safety of another and the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward crimes that seriously endanger the life or safety of another.

      (2) As used in this section, “previously convicted of a felony” means:

      (a) Previous conviction of a felony in a court of this state;

      (b) Previous conviction in a court of the United States, other than a court-martial, of an offense which at the time of conviction of the offense was and at the time of conviction of the instant crime is punishable under the laws of the United States by death or by imprisonment in a penitentiary, prison or similar institution for a term of one year or more; or

      (c) Previous conviction by a general court-martial of the United States or in a court of any other state or territory of the United States, or of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, of an offense which at the time of conviction of the offense was punishable by death or by imprisonment in a penitentiary, prison or similar institution for a term of one year or more and which offense also at the time of conviction of the instant crime would have been a felony if committed in this state.

      (3) As used in this section, “previous conviction of a felony” does not include:

      (a) An offense committed when the defendant was less than 16 years of age;

      (b) A conviction rendered after the commission of the instant crime;

      (c) A conviction that is the defendant’s most recent conviction described in subsection (2) of this section, and the defendant was finally and unconditionally discharged from all resulting imprisonment, probation or parole more than seven years before the commission of the instant crime; or

      (d) A conviction that was by court-martial of an offense denounced only by military law and triable only by court-martial.

      (4) As used in this section, “conviction” means an adjudication of guilt upon a plea, verdict or finding in a criminal proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction, but does not include an adjudication which has been expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside or otherwise rendered nugatory. [1971 c.743 §85; 1989 c.790 §75; 1993 c.334 §5; 2005 c.463 §§9,14; 2007 c.16 §4]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 184 cases (13 in the last 5 years), 1973–2026 · leading case: State v. Crain, 33 P.3d 1050 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).
State v. Crain, 33 P.3d 1050 (Or. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 20× “725(1)(a), or otherwise alleged that defendant was a dangerous offender subject to sentencing under ORS 161.725 to ORS 161.737. Defendant was convicted by a jury.”
State v. Huntley, 730 P.2d 1234 (Or. 1986). · cites it 17× “After the plea to the current charge, the state requested the court to find that defendant was a dangerous offender under ORS 161.725, which provides that a court may sentence a defendant convicted of a Class A felony to imprisonment of 30 years if the court finds, among other…”
State v. Worth, 360 P.3d 536 (Or. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 13× “Based on the jury’s findings of the requisite criteria, the trial court opted to sentence defendant as a “dangerous offender” pursuant to ORS 161.725 and related statutes, discussed below, thereby imposing consecutive indeterminate dangerous offender 30-year sentences on each…”
State v. Warren, 98 P.3d 1129 (Or. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 13× “5 Moreover, that is so notwithstanding that the “departure” from such an underlying sentence is authorized by ORS 161.725 to 161.737 rather than, as in Sawatzky , the sentencing guideline rules.”
Teague v. Palmateer, 57 P.3d 176 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 8× “In August 1989, petitioner was sentenced, pursuant to ORS 161.725 (1987) and ORS 161.735 (1987), as a dangerous offender, based in part on a finding by the sentencing court that he suffers from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.”
State v. Parkerson, 541 P.3d 874 (Or. 2023). · cites it 18× “Based on that material, Phillips stated in a short cover letter and testified at the hearing that it was her opinion that defendant met “ ‘the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder’ ”—one of the requirements for dangerous offender sentencing under ORS…”
State v. Stevens, 806 P.2d 92 (Or. 1991). · cites it 5× “The dangerous offender statute, ORS 161.725 (1971), provided in part: 24 “The maximum term of an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for a dangerous offender is 30 years, if the court finds that because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confined…”
Bell v. Bd. of Parole & Post-Prison Supervision, 391 P.3d 907 (Or. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 8× “” See ORS 161.725 (1985), amended by Or Laws 1989, ch 790, § 75; Or Laws 2005, ch 463, § 9.”
Rummel v. Estelle, 445 U.S. 263 (1980). · cites it 2× “12 (Supp. 1979) (no mandatory habitual offender penalties).”
State v. Turner, 676 P.2d 873 (Or. 1984). · cites it 7× “After the defendant was convicted on all counts, the Multnomah County Circuit Court found defendant to be a dangerous offender subject to the provisions of ORS 161.725 1 and sentenced him as follows: For the burglary in the first degree conviction, defendant was sentenced to an…”
State v. Davis, 847 P.2d 834 (Or. 1993). · cites it 6× “In this felony sentencing guidelines case, the issue is whether OAR, 253-08-007(3), which limits the “incarceration term” that a convicted offender may serve under a “departure” sentence that has been imposed on the offender in the form of a consecutive sentence, applies to the…”
Miller v. Lampert, 125 P.3d 1260 (Or. 2006). · cites it 4× “” See ORS 161.725(1) (stating criteria for dangerous offender sentence).”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(1) — 34 cases
Miller v. Lampert, 125 P.3d 1260 (Or. 2006). “” See ORS 161.725(1) (stating criteria for dangerous offender sentence).”
Bell v. Bd. of Parole & Post-Prison Supervision, 391 P.3d 907 (Or. Ct. App. 2017). “” See ORS 161.725 (1985), amended by Or Laws 1989, ch 790, § 75; Or Laws 2005, ch 463, § 9.”
Teague v. Palmateer, 57 P.3d 176 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). “In August 1989, petitioner was sentenced, pursuant to ORS 161.725 (1987) and ORS 161.735 (1987), as a dangerous offender, based in part on a finding by the sentencing court that he suffers from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.”
Page v. Palmateer, 84 P.3d 133 (Or. 2004).
State v. Stevens, 806 P.2d 92 (Or. 1991). “The dangerous offender statute, ORS 161.725 (1971), provided in part: 24 “The maximum term of an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for a dangerous offender is 30 years, if the court finds that because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confined…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(1)(a) — 8 cases
State v. Crain, 33 P.3d 1050 (Or. Ct. App. 2001). “725(1)(a), or otherwise alleged that defendant was a dangerous offender subject to sentencing under ORS 161.725 to ORS 161.737. Defendant was convicted by a jury.”
State v. Heilman, 125 P.3d 728 (Or. 2005).
State v. Parkerson, 541 P.3d 874 (Or. 2023). “Based on that material, Phillips stated in a short cover letter and testified at the hearing that it was her opinion that defendant met “ ‘the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder’ ”—one of the requirements for dangerous offender sentencing under ORS…”
Richardson v. Belleque, 373 P.3d 1113 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).
Guzek v. Bd. of Parole, 530 P.3d 510 (Or. Ct. App. 2023).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(1)(b) — 4 cases
Lovelace v. Zenon, 976 P.2d 575 (Or. Ct. App. 1999).
State v. Haji, 462 P.3d 1240 (Or. 2020).
State v. Crain, 33 P.3d 1050 (Or. Ct. App. 2001). “725(1)(a), or otherwise alleged that defendant was a dangerous offender subject to sentencing under ORS 161.725 to ORS 161.737. Defendant was convicted by a jury.”
State v. Tanner, 87 P.3d 688 (Or. Ct. App. 2004).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(2) — 9 cases
State v. Stevens, 806 P.2d 92 (Or. 1991). “The dangerous offender statute, ORS 161.725 (1971), provided in part: 24 “The maximum term of an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for a dangerous offender is 30 years, if the court finds that because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confined…”
Teague v. Palmateer, 57 P.3d 176 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). “In August 1989, petitioner was sentenced, pursuant to ORS 161.725 (1987) and ORS 161.735 (1987), as a dangerous offender, based in part on a finding by the sentencing court that he suffers from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.”
State v. Mitchell, 734 P.2d 379 (Or. Ct. App. 1987).
State v. Lovelace, 767 P.2d 80 (Or. Ct. App. 1989).
State v. Walters, 783 P.2d 531 (Or. Ct. App. 1989).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(4)(b) — 2 cases
Commonwealth v. Mourar, 504 A.2d 197 (Pa. 1986).
Commonwealth v. Wolfe, 503 A.2d 435 (Pa. 1986).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(l)(a) — 9 cases
State v. Warren, 98 P.3d 1129 (Or. Ct. App. 2004). “5 Moreover, that is so notwithstanding that the “departure” from such an underlying sentence is authorized by ORS 161.725 to 161.737 rather than, as in Sawatzky , the sentencing guideline rules.”
State v. Crain, 33 P.3d 1050 (Or. Ct. App. 2001). “725(1)(a), or otherwise alleged that defendant was a dangerous offender subject to sentencing under ORS 161.725 to ORS 161.737. Defendant was convicted by a jury.”
State v. Perez, 102 P.3d 705 (Or. Ct. App. 2004).
State v. Heilman, 125 P.3d 728 (Or. 2005).
Page v. Palmateer, 84 P.3d 133 (Or. 2004).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 161.725(l)(b) — 2 cases
State v. Reinke, 309 P.3d 1059 (Or. 2013).
Lovelace v. Zenon, 976 P.2d 575 (Or. Ct. App. 1999).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.