Occupation: Circuit Court Judge
Occupational Background: Circuit Court Judge pro tempore; Director and attorney at Multnomah County Legal Aid and Oregon Legal Services Offices; Adjunct Professor of Law; Legal Consultant; Paralegal; Clerk/Typist
Educational Background: B.A. summa cum laude, Loyola University of Los Angeles (1974); J.D., University of Oregon School of Law (1979)
Prior Governmental Experience: State Family Law Advisory Committee; Governor's Domestic Violence Council; Oregon State Police's Violence Against Women Act Advisory Board; Family Law Legal Services Commission-staff; Oregon Dept. of Justice child support policy workgroups and legislative committees; Oregon Law Commission workgroups on child support and other family law issues
Before to taking the bench, I worked for more than two decades:
- Developing improved police response to victims of violence
- With community advocates, police, judges, and lawyers in courthouses and the Oregon Legislature to protect victims of violence and abuse, and to hold perpetrators accountable
- Representing hundreds of clients in Multnomah County courtrooms
- Helping make the courts and their procedures more understandable to people without lawyers
KEEP JUDGE MAUREEN McKNIGHT IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
Since taking the bench, I have presided over hundreds of domestic relations and juvenile cases in the Family Law Department in the busiest courthouse in the state. I am also the lead judge in implementing the Domestic Violence Court that handles misdemeanor crimes involving family violence. Through work on local and statewide committees, I am helping plan judicial response to the growing numbers of people in court without lawyers. Our local dockets are very full and I enjoy the challenge of providing all litigants - with or without an attorney - a fair opportunity to be heard and individual respect in the efficient setting our court system needs. I'm honored to work hard for the residents of Multnomah County. I welcome the opportunity to continue helping make our courts more understandable and accessible to all Oregonians.
(This information furnished by Reelect Judge Maureen McKnight Committee.)