HB 4157 — Relating to hearsay; and prescribing an effective date.

83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2026 Regular Session Enrolled House Bill 4157 Sponsored by Representative TRAN, Senator TAYLOR;

Representatives ANDERSEN, BOICE, BOSHART DAVIS, BUNCH, CHOTZEN, EVANS,DOBSON, EDWARDS, GAMBA, HARTMAN, HUDSON, ISADORE, JAVADI, LEVY B, LEVY E, LEWIS, MANNIX, MCDONALD, MCLAIN, NELSON, RIEKE SMITH, SCHARF, WISE, Senators CAMPOS, DRAZAN, FREDERICK, GOLDEN, MANNING JR, NERON MISSLIN, PATTERSON, PROZANSKI, SMITH DB, THATCHER (Presession filed.) SUMMARYCHAPTER The................................................. following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to consideration by the Legislative Assembly.

ItAN isACT anRelating editor’sto briefhearsay; statement of the essential features of the measure as introduced.

The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability standards.

Digest:

The Act says that some hearsay about some sex crimes can come into evidence though the speaker is available.

(Flesch Readability Score:

62.8).

Provides that certain hearsay statements related to certain sex crimes are not inadmissible in evidence, even though the declarant is available as a witness.

Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

A BILL FOR AN ACT Relating to hearsay;

(6) A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the memorandum, report, record, or data compi- lation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, unless the source NOTE:of information or the method of circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.

Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new;

matter [italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.

New sections are in boldfaced type.

LC 152 HB 4157 of information or the method of circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.

Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 1 (7) Evidence that a matter is not included in the memoranda, reports, records, or data compila- tions, and in any form, kept in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6) of this section, to prove the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of the matter, if the matter was of a kind of which a memorandum, report, record, or data compilation was regularly made and preserved, unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness.

(15) A statement contained in a document purporting to establish or affect an interest in prop- erty if the matter stated was relevant to the purpose of the document, unless dealings with the [2] HB 4157 property since the document was made have been inconsistent with the truth of the statement or the purport of the document.

(18) (Reserved.) (18a)(a) A complaint of sexual misconduct, complaint of abuse as defined in ORS 107.705 or 419B.005, complaint of abuse of an elderly person, as those terms are defined in ORS 124.050, or a complaint relating to a violation of ORS 163.205 or 164.015 in which a person 65 years of age or Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 2 older is the victim, made by the witness after the commission of the alleged misconduct or abuse at issue.

For purposes of this paragraph, in addition to those situations described in ORS 40.465 (1), the declarant shall be considered “unavail-“una- able”vailable” if the declarant has a substantial lack of memory of the subject matter of the statement, is presently incompetent to testify, is unable to communicate about the abuse or sexual conduct be-because cause of fear or other similar reason or is substantially likely, as established by expert testimony, to suffer lasting severe emotional trauma from testifying.

[3] HB 4157 (C) Certainty that the statement was made, including the credibility of the person testifying about the statement and any motive the person may have to falsify or distort the statement;

Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 3 (d) This subsection applies to a child declarant, a declarant who is an elderly person as defined in ORS 124.050 or an adult declarant with a developmental disability.

(24) Notwithstanding the limits contained in subsection (18a) of this section, in any proceeding in which a child under 12 years of age at the time of trial, or a person with a developmental disa- bility as described in subsection (18a)(d) of this section, may be called as a witness to testify con- [4] HB 4157 cerning an act of abuse, as defined in ORS 419B.005, or sexual conduct performed with or on the child or person with a developmental disability by another, the testimony of the child or person with a developmental disability taken by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination in another place under the supervision of the trial judge and communicated to the courtroom by closed-circuit television or other audiovisual means.

If the court makes such a finding, the court, on motion of a party, the child, the person with a developmental disability or the court in a civil proceeding, or on motion of the district attorney, the child or the person with a developmental disability in a criminal or juvenile proceeding, may order that the testimony of the child or the person with a developmentalde- velopmental disability be taken as described in this subsection.

Only the judge, the attorneys for the parties, the parties, individuals necessary to operate the equipment and any individual the court finds would contribute to the welfare and well-being of the child or person with a developmental disability may be present during the testimony of the child or person with a developmental disability.disabil- ity.

(b) Any document containing data prepared or recorded by the Oregon State Police that is produced by data retrieval from the Law Enforcement Data System or other computer system Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 4 maintained and operated by the Oregon State Police and that is electronically transmitted through public or private computer networks under an electronic signature adopted by the Oregon State Police if the person receiving the data attests that the document accurately reflects the data re- ceived.

(B) Whether the statement is corroborated by evidence other than statements that are subject [5] HB 4157 to admission only pursuant to this subsection.

The court may consider, but is not limited to, the following factors in determiningdetermin- ing whether a statement has sufficient indicia of reliability:

Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 5 [(27)] (28) A report prepared by a forensic scientist that contains the results of a presumptive test conducted by the forensic scientist as described in ORS 475.235, if the forensic scientist attests that the report accurately reflects the results of the presumptive test.

The amendments to ORS 40.460 by section 1 of this 2026 Act apply to state- [6] HB 4157 ments offered into evidence on or after the effective date of this 2026 Act.

[7]Passed by House February 19, 2026 Received by Governor:

........................M.,........................................................., 2026 .................................................Approved:........................

Timothy G.

Sekerak, Chief Clerk of House ........................M.,........................................................., 2026 ..................................................................................

Julie Fahey, Speaker of House ..................................................................................

Tina Kotek, Governor Passed by Senate March 3, 2026 Filed in Office of Secretary of State:

......................................................................................................................................, 2026 Rob Wagner, President of Senate ..................................................................................

Tobias Read, Secretary of State Enrolled House Bill 4157 (HB 4157-INTRO) Page 6