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Crook County, OR Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Crook County Circuit Court, Oregon's general-jurisdiction trial court for this county and a state court funded and administered by the Oregon Judicial Department. Crook is not one of the six counties where probate sits in a county court, so probate jurisdiction here is in the circuit court (ORS 111.075), governed by Title 12 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS chapters 111 to 118). The court is part of the 22nd Judicial District, which it shares with Jefferson County and which has three circuit judges (ORS 3.012) |
| Filing office | The court's Office of the Trial Court Administrator, in Suite 300 at 260 NW 2nd Street in Prineville. One Trial Court Administrator serves both counties of the district. Crook publishes no separate probate department, no probate clerk and no probate page on the Oregon Judicial Department site. Do not confuse the court with the Crook County Clerk, who handles recording, elections, marriage licenses, domestic partnerships, passports and the Property Value Appeals Board and publishes nothing about probate |
| Courthouse address | Crook County Courthouse, 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, OR 97754. The court's home page carries a standing notice that it moved to this address effective October 28, 2024, and SLR 1.173(1), effective February 1, 2026, gives the district's Crook office as 260 NW 2nd Street, Prineville. One caution: the court's own Copy Requests page still gives 300 NE Third Street, the former courthouse, as the mailing address for a records request, so confirm the address before you mail anything there |
| Mailing address | Crook County Circuit Court, 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, OR 97754. The court publishes the same street address for mail as for walk-in filing and no post office box, so nothing needs to be addressed differently |
| Phone | 541-447-6541, the court's published telephone number. This is the general court line: Crook publishes no probate line, no probate extension and no telephone directory of department extensions, unlike some other rural Oregon circuit courts (verified July 2026). The one published extension is 72157, which the court gives as the contact for questions about a remote hearing |
| Fax and email | No probate fax or mailbox is published. The court publishes two department email addresses and neither is for probate: a courtroom technology address used for approved video appearances, and a transcript coordinator address the court says is only monitored for notices of appeal. No fax number appears anywhere on the court's site, even though the Court Records page says a printed copy request may be submitted by mail, by fax or in person at the customer service window. Call 541-447-6541 rather than assuming a filing can be faxed or emailed |
| Hours | 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, which the court publishes as its court hours (verified July 2026). Crook publishes no lunch closure, no separate filing-counter cutoff and no restricted phone-service window, and the district's local rules contain no rule stating courthouse hours, so treat the posted hours as the counter hours. Two things run later than the counter. The court's drop box in the courthouse lobby takes filings, payments and juror questionnaires, and the court says a document deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open is filed the same day, while anything after 5:00 p.m. is filed the next business day. An electronic filing is timely if submitted by 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)). Oregon courts are closed on legal holidays |
| Filing fee | The filing fee to open a probate is set by statute and is the same in every Oregon county, tiered by the value of the estate: $278 if the estate is worth less than $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026). A simple estate affidavit is $124 (ORS 21.145(4)). The caption must state the value of the estate (ORS 21.105). Fee waivers and deferrals are available. One local mechanic worth knowing: the court says a filing left in the drop box without the appropriate filing fee attached will not be accepted and will be returned. Confirm the current schedule with the court at 541-447-6541 |
| Local forms | Yes, a substantial set, and not one of them opens or administers a decedent's estate. Fifty-nine forms are scoped to Crook County in the Oregon Judicial Department forms library, and exactly five sit in the probate category, all of them guardianship and conservatorship forms: a Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits form, a Court Visitor Report, a Court Visitor Itemization, a Guardians Report, and a Guardianship Authorization to Release Information. The probate simple estate heading on the court's forms page points to the free statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet, not to a Crook form. The court's forms page states that it holds many forms specific to Crook County Circuit Court and that where two versions of a form exist you should select the Crook version. There is no local and no statewide petition to open a probate |
| E-filing | Available and used, mandatory for attorneys. An active licensee of the Oregon State Bar must file through the statewide electronic filing system, OJD eFile, which is Odyssey File and Serve, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer holds a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to, and may file at the counter, in the drop box or by mail instead. The original will still goes in on paper, because a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)). The 22nd District's local rules contain no SLR 2.501, so this district adds nothing to the statewide conventional-filing list |
| Case search | Through the free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search, which covers Oregon's circuit courts and therefore covers Crook County. It is an index and register of actions, not a document library: the Oregon Judicial Department states that results provide basic case information, party information, event entries and dispositions, that the display is not the official ORS 7.020 register record, and that documents are not available through the service. For documents, the court publishes a public OJCIN computer in the courthouse lobby where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases; a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription is the remote equivalent. Decedents' estate cases are public |
| Remote appearance | By request and approval, not by default. SLR 3.051 requires anyone appearing remotely to follow the Oregon Judicial Department's attorney, litigant or witness guide and the remote hearings quick reference guide. The court's Technology page adds that every request to appear by telephone must be preapproved by a judge under SLR 3.051, that a request to appear by video must be filed as soon as possible and no later than five days before the hearing, and that each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines. The court publishes Webex conference lines for its Crook courtrooms and a remote-hearing contact at 541-447-6541 extension 72157. Nothing published makes probate hearings remote by default |
| Website | https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/crook/Pages/default.aspx (the court's home page, with its address, hours, main number and the relocation notice), https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/crook/help/Pages/forms.aspx (the Crook County forms, including the probate group), https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/crook/records/Pages/default.aspx (court records, the lobby kiosk and copy requests), and https://www.courts.oregon.gov/rules/Documents/Crook-Jefferson_SLR_2026.pdf (the 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules effective February 1, 2026) |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Prineville, know exactly what the estate holds. Which Oregon route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who is entitled to be appointed, and on the value and type of the assets, because a full probate that ends in letters testamentary or letters of administration and a simple estate affidavit under ORS 114.505 to 114.560 are different filings with different fees, different waiting periods and different consequences. Those routes and their dollar caps are statewide and are explained on the Oregon state page. Two Crook specifics make the homework worth doing first: this court has no probate department and no probate clerk to walk a filer through a correction, and its records counter handles requests first come, first serve, so a return trip costs a day rather than an hour.
Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you file. In Oregon that is a filing requirement rather than good practice: the petition must state the extent and nature of the estate's assets so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035), and the caption must state the value of the estate because the filing fee is tiered by that value (ORS 21.105(1); ORS 21.170(1)). If an amended pleading raises the value, the court collects the difference (ORS 21.105(2)). Sunset's asset discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step, so the petition you file in Suite 300 states the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Crook County Circuit Court, in Suite 300 at 260 NW 2nd Street in Prineville, is the only probate filing location for the county. There is no branch courthouse and no second counter. The court serves all of Crook County, from Prineville and the Crooked River valley out through the ranch, farm and juniper country and the national forest land that makes up most of the county's area. Note the address before you drive: the court moved on October 28, 2024 and no longer sits at the old courthouse on NE Third Street, and at least one page on the court's own website still gives that former address for mailing a records request. This is a large county with a small population and long drives, so plan the filing around the mail, the electronic filing system, the lobby drop box and the phone, and treat the trip to Prineville as the one for originals and for any hearing.
Crook County Circuit Court is part of the 22nd Judicial District, which it shares with Jefferson County (ORS 3.012 groups Oregon's circuit courts into 27 judicial districts). The two counties share three circuit judges, one Trial Court Administrator and one set of supplementary local rules, which are captioned for Jefferson and Crook Counties together and list both courthouses. None of that changes where your case belongs. You do not file "in the district": you file in the county, and for a Crook County estate that means the Prineville courthouse. Probate here sits in the circuit court, not a county court: ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties and in the circuit court for each other county, and Crook is one of the others. The practical consequence is that everything statewide applies here, including OJD eFile and the Oregon Judicial Department's online case search, neither of which reaches those six county courts.
The Crook County Clerk is a separate office and does not take probate filings, which is the reverse of the arrangement in those six counties. The Clerk's published powers come from ORS chapter 205, and the office handles recording of real property transactions, plats, marriage records and military discharges, elections, marriage licenses, domestic partnerships, passports and the Property Value Appeals Board. The Clerk matters to an estate for one thing: recording the deed when Oregon real property is sold or transferred, because the Clerk is the county's recording officer, and the Clerk's Digital Research Room is the online index of recorded documents. Probate filings go to the Circuit Court in Suite 300.
Venue is broad. Oregon law allows a probate to be filed in the county where the decedent was domiciled or had a place of abode at the time of death, in any county where the decedent's property was located at death or is located when the proceeding starts, in the county where the decedent died, or in the county where a personal injury or wrongful death claim could be brought (ORS 113.015(1)); filing in another county is not a jurisdictional defect (ORS 113.015(2)). In practice you file in the county where the decedent lived, because that is where the notice to interested persons is published (ORS 113.155(1)). So if the person who died lived in Crook County, file in Prineville, not in Madras and not in Bend. If proceedings are started in more than one county, all but the first are stayed until venue is settled, and the court may transfer the matter for the best interest of the estate (ORS 113.025).
The jurisdiction process
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, with the affidavit of an attesting witness or other evidence of the decedent's signature, a certified copy of the death certificate, the proposed personal representative's address and qualifications, the names and addresses of the heirs and devisees with the ages of any minors, and a list of assets and debts with values. Oregon's statutory term for the person who settles an estate is personal representative; executor and administrator are informal usages for the will-named and the court-appointed version of the same role.
- Decide what you are asking the court for. A probate proceeding is commenced by filing a petition (ORS 111.205(1)), and the court then appoints a qualified and suitable personal representative in the order of preference set by ORS 113.085(1), starting with the person named in the will and then the surviving spouse or the spouse's nominee where the spouse is a distributee. Where the estate is small enough, the alternative is a simple estate affidavit filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where there is venue (ORS 114.515(1)), which in Crook County means the Crook County Circuit Court. The caps, the waiting period and the two-year review window for that route are statewide and are covered on the Oregon state page.
- Draft the petition, because no form exists. Oregon prescribes no pleading forms for probate: no particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), and there is no statewide or Crook County petition, inventory or letters form. Every petition, inventory, report and accounting must be in writing and carry a declaration under penalty of perjury in the form required by ORCP 1 E. The petition must state the decedent's name, age, domicile, address and date and place of death, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, the facts relied on to establish venue, the proposed personal representative's address and qualifications, the heirs and devisees, a statement that reasonable efforts have been made to identify and locate all heirs, whether the original will accompanies the petition, and a statement of the extent and nature of the assets so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035). Put the value of the estate in the caption (ORS 21.105(1)). One local drafting rule catches filers out: SLR 2.011 requires every proposed order submitted to this court to carry two check boxes, one for allowed and one for denied, each with enough space for the court to add conditions, limitations or reasons.
- Collect the forms that do exist. The court's forms page carries the Crook County forms and warns that where two versions of a form exist you should select the Crook version. In the probate group that means five guardianship and conservatorship forms and nothing for a decedent's estate: a Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits form, a Court Visitor Report, a Court Visitor Itemization, a Guardians Report, and a Guardianship Authorization to Release Information. For an estate, the Oregon Judicial Department publishes the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions, a Claim Against Estate form and an accounting packet, and the court's forms page links the statewide simple estate packet directly.
- File with the Crook County Circuit Court, electronically or on paper. An active Oregon State Bar licensee must use OJD eFile, the statewide system run as Odyssey File and Serve, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer holds a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)); a self-represented filer may register and e-file but may also file at the counter in Suite 300, 260 NW 2nd Street, Prineville, by mail to the same address, or in the courthouse lobby drop box, which the court says is filed the same day if the document goes in before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open. Counter hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The original will is the exception either way: a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), and if you e-file the rest, e-file an image of the will and then deliver the original within seven business days with a filing comment saying so, in which case it counts as filed on the date the image went in (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)(i)). An electronic filing is timely to 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)). Call 541-447-6541 before mailing an original will.
- Pay the filing fee. Opening a probate costs $278 if the estate is worth less than $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026). A simple estate affidavit is $124, with no fee for an amended affidavit (ORS 21.145(4); ORS 114.515(5)). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), and the statutory filing fee is the only charge collectible for the filing, which is why Crook County adds no local surcharge. If you use the drop box, attach the fee: the court says a filing without the appropriate fee attached will not be accepted and will be returned, and it will only send a receipt if you attach a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Fee waivers and deferrals are available through the Oregon Judicial Department's fee deferral and waiver packet.
- Take the appointment and collect the letters. The court issues letters testamentary where there is a will or letters of administration where there is not, once any bond the court requires is filed with the clerk of the court (ORS 113.105; ORS 113.125). Bond is not required where the will waives it, where the personal representative is the sole heir or devisee, or where the petition states that no assets are known, though the court may still require one for good cause. A certified copy of the letters is what banks, transfer agents and title companies rely on, so order enough for the institutions the estate deals with: a certified copy of letters is $5 plus 25 cents per page in paper form and $0 if delivered electronically (ORS 21.258; Chief Justice Order 23-016; fee schedule effective January 1, 2026). If an out-of-state institution or a foreign registry wants an exemplified copy, the court's records page describes that as a three-way certificate, so ask for it early.
- Give the required information and notices. Upon appointment the personal representative must deliver or mail the statutory information to the devisees, heirs and the other persons named in the petition, file proof of that delivery or mailing within 30 days after appointment, and mail the same information with a copy of the death record to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority (ORS 113.145). The notice to interested persons is published once, not once a week for three weeks, in a newspaper published in the county where the estate proceeding is pending, or in a newspaper the court designates if none is published there (ORS 113.155(1)), and it must require all persons having claims to present them within four months after the date of publication. Neither Crook County nor the court publishes a designated newspaper, so confirm the paper and the schedule with the court at 541-447-6541 and with the newspaper before you rely on a date, because publication starts the four-month claim period.
- Search for creditors, then handle claims. During the three months following appointment the personal representative must make reasonably diligent efforts to investigate the decedent's financial records and affairs to identify claimants, must mail or deliver a notice to each known claimant not later than 30 days after that period stating that claims not presented within 45 days of the notice may be barred, and must file proof of compliance not later than 60 days after the period (ORS 115.003). Claims are presented to the personal representative, not filed with the court, and filing a claim with the court does not count as presentation (ORS 115.005(1)(a)). A claim is barred if not presented before the later of four months after publication or 45 days after a notice to a known claimant (ORS 115.005(2)), with narrow exceptions.
- File the inventory within 90 days. The personal representative must file an inventory of all estate property that has come into their possession or knowledge within 90 days after the date of appointment unless the court grants longer, showing estimated fair market values as of the date of death (ORS 113.165). If no property has come in, an inventory saying so must still be filed, and property found later goes into a supplemental inventory within 30 days or into the next accounting (ORS 113.175).
- Account on the required format, then close. Unless the court orders otherwise, an account is filed annually within 60 days after the anniversary of appointment, and again when the estate is ready for final settlement and distribution (ORS 116.083(1)); a statement in lieu of an annual or a final account is possible where the distributees consent in writing and, for the final account, where creditors other than those owed administrative expenses have been paid in full (ORS 116.083(3) and (5)). In this district the format is not a suggestion: SLR 9.161 requires accountings in estates and conservatorships to be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 of the UTCR Appendix of Forms. Oregon also charges to file an accounting, on the same value bands as the filing fee: $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 (ORS 21.170(2); fee schedule effective January 1, 2026). On filing the final account and the petition for a judgment of distribution, mail the account, the petition and notice of the time for objections to each distributee and each unpaid creditor at least 20 days beforehand (ORS 116.093(1)); if no objections are filed, the court enters a general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.113). Where Oregon real property passes, record the deed with the Crook County Clerk, the county's recording officer.
Executor duties
A personal representative appointed in Crook County carries the statewide duties, and the 22nd Judicial District's local rules add a small number of format and record requirements on top of them. The statewide obligations are the notices and proof of mailing within 30 days of appointment (ORS 113.145), publication of the notice to interested persons once (ORS 113.155(1)), the creditor search and known-claimant notices (ORS 115.003), the inventory within 90 days (ORS 113.165) and the annual and final accountings (ORS 116.083). What is local is the accounting format, the attorney time record, and the drafting rule for proposed orders.
| Local duty | What the 22nd Judicial District requires |
|---|---|
| Accountings on the statewide form, mandatory here | SLR 9.161 provides that accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the UTCR Appendix of Forms. Statewide, UTCR 9.160 only guarantees that such an accounting must be accepted in every judicial district; this district has taken the further step of making the format compulsory, and the rule reaches a decedent's estate, not just a conservatorship. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes the accounting packet free. Remember that Oregon charges a fee for each annual or final accounting, tiered by the value of the estate at $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 (ORS 21.170(2); fee schedule effective January 1, 2026) |
| Your attorney keeps time records against the fee request | SLR 9.061 provides that the attorney for the personal representative must maintain time records for twelve months and, upon request of the court, must furnish a copy of that record to the court to assist the court in fixing a reasonable attorney's fee as provided by ORS 116.183. It is a duty on counsel rather than on the personal representative, but it is the estate's money at stake, so raise it when you engage an attorney |
| Proposed orders carry allowed and denied check boxes | SLR 2.011 requires all proposed orders submitted to the court to contain two check boxes, one for allowed and the other for denied, each with sufficient additional space for the court to add conditions, limitations or the reason for the court's order. That applies to the order appointing a personal representative and to every later order you draft |
| Exhibits, if a matter is ever set for hearing or trial | Presiding Judge Order 2023-16 requires documentary exhibits for a remote hearing or trial to be e-filed by 12:00 p.m. two court days before, or delivered in printed, pre-marked form by the same deadline to the Court Records Window in an envelope marked EXHIBITS with the case number, case name and hearing date and time, and every exhibit to reach the other parties by 5:00 p.m. two court days before. For a conventionally filed documentary exhibit, SLR 6.084 requires one original, a copy for the opposing party and a courtesy copy for the judge. SLR 6.083 provides that no court or jury trial will proceed until the trial fees are paid to the Trial Court Administrator unless they have been waived or deferred, and that the receipt must be shown to the courtroom clerk |
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Crook County
Crook County publishes a lot of local forms and not one of them opens or administers a decedent's estate. Fifty-nine forms are scoped to Crook County in the Oregon Judicial Department forms library, and exactly five sit in the probate category, all of them protective proceeding forms: a Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits form, a Court Visitor Report, a Court Visitor Itemization, a Guardians Report, and a Guardianship Authorization to Release Information. The court's forms page states that it holds many forms specific to Crook County Circuit Court, points to the statewide Forms Center for everything else, and warns that if there are two versions of any form you should select the Crook version. Its probate simple estate heading links the free statewide packet rather than a local form.
There is no statewide Oregon petition to open a probate, and that is by design rather than an oversight. No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), so the petition, the order, the notices, the inventory and the accountings are drafted documents rather than fill-in forms, each carrying a declaration under penalty of perjury in the form required by ORCP 1 E. What the Oregon Judicial Department does publish statewide, free, is the Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions, a Claim Against Estate form covering presentation of a claim to a personal representative, to a simple estate affiant, to a conservator or to a trustee, and an accounting packet. The Forms Center states its own rule: any statewide form will be accepted in all circuit courts, statewide forms are not available for all circumstances, and additional forms may be available through local courts.
Two local points about format. The accounting packet is not optional here: SLR 9.161 requires accountings in estates and conservatorships to be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 of the UTCR Appendix of Forms, so use the statewide accounting format from the start. And every proposed order you submit needs allowed and denied check boxes with room for the court to write in conditions (SLR 2.011). One tool that does not help: the Oregon Judicial Department's Guide and File interactive forms service does not cover probate or simple estates, so there is no guided interview for an estate in Crook County or anywhere else in Oregon. If you e-file, remember the original will still goes in on paper (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)). Call 541-447-6541 to ask what the court wants on intake before you file.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Crook County Circuit Court forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The court's own forms page. Its probate group holds the Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits form, the Court Visitor Report and Itemization, the Guardians Report and the Guardianship Authorization to Release Information, and its simple estate heading links the statewide packet. The page renders its lists through a script, so allow it to load, and select the Crook version where two versions of a form exist |
| 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules (courts.oregon.gov) | The local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties, effective February 1, 2026, including SLR 9.161 on the mandatory accounting format, SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in protective proceedings, SLR 2.011 on proposed orders and SLR 3.051 on remote appearances |
| Oregon Judicial Department estate forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions and the Claim Against Estate form, with Spanish and Vietnamese translations of the simple estate packet. There is no statewide petition to open a probate |
| Oregon Judicial Department probate accounting forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide accounting packet. This is the format UTCR 9.160 describes and SLR 9.161 makes mandatory in Crook and Jefferson Counties, so start here rather than drafting your own |
| Presiding Judge Order 2023-16 on exhibits (courts.oregon.gov) | The 22nd Judicial District's exhibit rules for remote hearings and trials, with the 12:00 p.m. two court day filing deadline, the labelled envelope requirement for printed exhibits delivered to the Court Records Window, and the 5:00 p.m. two court day deadline for providing exhibits to other parties |
| Statewide records request form (courts.oregon.gov) | The Oregon Judicial Department's records request page, which the court asks you to read before requesting access to a court file, copies from a file or audio of a proceeding |
| Oregon Judicial Department fee deferral and waiver (courts.oregon.gov) | The packet for asking that a filing fee be deferred or waived, for a filer who cannot afford the amount set by ORS 21.170(1) |
Local nuance
Crook County-specific considerations
A shared district, a single county filing. Crook County Circuit Court is one half of the 22nd Judicial District: the supplementary local rules are captioned for Jefferson and Crook Counties together, one Trial Court Administrator certifies them for both counties, SLR 1.171 lists two court websites and two forms pages, and SLR 1.173 lists two offices, 260 NW 2nd Street in Prineville and 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, in Madras. Three circuit judges cover both counties (ORS 3.012). Read that as a staffing fact, not a filing instruction. A Crook County estate is filed in Prineville under ORS 113.015, appears on the Crook County calendar and is searched under Crook County in the statewide records search. The practical consequence of sharing is that a rule you read for one county applies in the other, and that a web search can easily land a Crook filer on the Jefferson County page.
The accounting format is mandatory here, which is unusual for a rural Oregon court. UTCR 9.160 only guarantees that an accounting filed substantially in the statewide format must be ACCEPTED in every judicial district; a district may go further and make that format compulsory through SLR 9.161, and the 22nd has. Its SLR 9.161 reads: accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the UTCR Appendix of Forms. Note that it reaches estates as well as conservatorships, and note that the rule does not appear in the local rules' own table of contents, so it is easy to miss. The companion rule, SLR 9.061, requires the attorney for the personal representative to maintain time records for twelve months and, on the court's request, to furnish a copy so the court can fix a reasonable attorney fee under ORS 116.183. Both rules also appeared in the previous edition, so neither is new.
Remote appearance is requested and approved, and the exhibit deadlines are local and strict. SLR 3.051 requires anyone appearing remotely to follow the Oregon Judicial Department's attorney, litigant or witness guide and the remote hearings quick reference guide. The court's Technology page adds that every telephone appearance must be preapproved by a judge under SLR 3.051, that a video appearance request must be filed as soon as possible and no later than five days before the hearing, and that each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines, so several remote participants have to conference in together. Presiding Judge Order 2023-16, entered in October 2023 for the 22nd Judicial District under UTCR 6.050 and Chief Justice Order 23-028, sets the exhibit clock: documentary exhibits must be filed electronically by 12:00 p.m. two court days before the hearing or trial; if they are not filed electronically they must be delivered in printed, pre-marked form by the same deadline to the Court Records Window, in an envelope or box marked EXHIBITS showing the case number, case name and the hearing date and time; electronic non-documentary exhibits follow the same deadline; a physical object requires a phone call to the court before 2:00 p.m. three days before; and every exhibit must reach the other parties by 5:00 p.m. two court days before. Once an exhibit has been e-filed, duplicate hard copies are not to be brought to court, though a courtesy copy for the bench is allowed.
Records are close at hand in Prineville and thin at a distance. The court provides a public OJCIN computer in the courthouse lobby where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases, and it says newer cases can be reviewed at the lobby kiosk computers while older files that have not been digitized have to be retrieved on request. From outside the courthouse the free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search gives the case index and register of actions but no documents, and the remote route to documents is a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. Copies are requested on the court's own Crook Copy Request Form, online or printed and submitted by mail, by fax or at the customer service window; the court handles requests first come, first serve, calculates the total cost after the request is made, adds postage for mailing, and requires all fees to be paid in full before any copies are made. Audio of a proceeding is requested on a separate form and comes back in the court's For The Record format.
What this court does not publish is as useful as what it does. There is no probate page and no contacts page on the Oregon Judicial Department site for Crook County, no Business Hours document, no telephone directory of department extensions and no probate line. There is no probate docket, no published hearing day and no filing-to-hearing window. Unlike several other Oregon districts, the 22nd has no SLR 2.501, so nothing local is added to the statewide list of documents that must be filed on paper, and it has no fiduciary education rule, so a Crook County personal representative owes no local training requirement. Court facilitation here is family law only: the court routes form help to the Greater Oregon Facilitation Initiative and to its Family Law Clerk, and neither serves probate. Treat the county library, which is also the county law library, as the local research resource instead.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means in Crook County |
|---|---|
| Crook County Circuit Court moved to 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, effective October 28, 2024 | The court's home page carries a standing relocation notice, and the court no longer sits at the old courthouse on NE Third Street. Use 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300 for filing in person, for mail and for the drop box. Two cautions follow from the move. The court's own Copy Requests page still gives 300 NE Third Street as the address for mailing a records request, so confirm before you post anything there. And the court's Courthouse Resources page, which places the drop box on the second floor lobby and the public OJCIN computer on the main floor, does not say whether it was rewritten after the move, so check the signage on arrival |
| The 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules effective February 1, 2026 corrected the court's street address inside the probate rules | SLR 9.081, which names where an oral objection may be made in a protective proceeding, gave the Crook location as 300 NE 3rd Street in the February 1, 2025 edition and gives it as 260 NW 2nd Street in the February 1, 2026 edition, catching the rules up with the move. The probate chapter is otherwise unchanged: SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates and SLR 9.161 on the mandatory accounting format both appeared in the previous edition and continue in force |
| SLR 7.031 was rewritten in the same 2026 edition, from trial readiness to scheduled trials | The rule no longer schedules a trial readiness conference for every case on the trial docket. A trial management hearing is now discretionary and reserved for complex cases, up to 21 days before trial, and the parties instead e-file the witness count, exhibit list, proposed jury instructions and any trial memorandum within three business days before the scheduled trial date, with a note that self-represented litigants unable to e-file may contact the court for direction. This matters only if a probate matter is set for trial, which is unusual, but it is the deadline that governs when it happens |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Crook County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the home in Prineville or elsewhere in Crook County was held with a right of survivorship, or passes by a beneficiary or transfer on death designation, it goes to the survivor without a probate and the court is not involved in the house itself. If assets stood in the decedent's sole name and there is a will, the spouse petitions the Crook County Circuit Court to admit the will and issue letters testamentary; with no will, a surviving spouse who is a distributee, or the spouse's nominee, has preference for appointment after any personal representative named in a will (ORS 113.085(1)). Bond often falls away where the personal representative is the sole heir or devisee (ORS 113.105). Filing is at Suite 300, 260 NW 2nd Street, by mail to the same address, in the lobby drop box, or through OJD eFile. | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the petition and the notices, ready to file in Prineville or through OJD eFile. A vetted attorney referral if title or a claim turns out to be contested. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the estate is small enough for the simple estate affidavit route under ORS 114.505 to 114.560, the affidavit is filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where there is venue (ORS 114.515(1)), which here is the Crook County Circuit Court, for a $124 fee (ORS 21.145(4)). No personal representative is appointed and no letters issue on that route. A filer living out of state can register for OJD eFile and file from home, or mail the papers to 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, OR 97754, and can look the case up afterwards in the free Oregon Judicial Department records search, which shows the register of actions but not the documents. Check the address before you mail: one page on the court's site still shows the former courthouse on NE Third Street. | Asset discovery to establish the estate's value from out of state and confirm which route it qualifies for. Packet generation for the affidavit or the petition, assembled so it can be e-filed or mailed to Prineville and accepted the first time. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real property has to be sold, this normally means a full probate: with no will the parent petitions the Crook County Circuit Court for appointment as personal representative in the preference order of ORS 113.085(1), receiving letters of administration; with a will the parent probates it and receives letters testamentary. The inventory follows within 90 days (ORS 113.165), the notice to interested persons is published once in a newspaper published in the county (ORS 113.155(1)), and claims are presented to the personal representative rather than filed with the court (ORS 115.005). Accountings must be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160 format, which is mandatory in this district (SLR 9.161). The deed on the sale is recorded with the Crook County Clerk, and the estate closes with a final account and a general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.083; ORS 116.113). | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, insurance, real property and debts. Packet generation for the petition, the inventory and the notices. Attorney referral where the sale, a mortgage payoff or a dispute among heirs makes counsel worthwhile. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Crook County Circuit Court (courts.oregon.gov), 541-447-6541 | The court itself: the address at 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, the standing notice that the court moved there effective October 28, 2024, court hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the main telephone number. No probate line or extension is published. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| Crook County Circuit Court forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The Crook County forms, including the five probate-category guardianship and conservatorship forms and a link to the statewide simple estate packet, with the court's instruction to select the Crook version where two versions of a form exist |
| Crook County Circuit Court records (courts.oregon.gov) | How to see and copy a court file: the online Crook Copy Request Form, first come first serve handling, costs calculated after the request and payable in full before copies are made, the kiosk computers in the courthouse lobby for newer cases, retrieval for older undigitized files, the audio copy request form, and the difference between copies, certified copies and exemplified copies. The mailing instructions on the companion page at https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/crook/records/Pages/copy-requests.aspx still show the former courthouse address, so confirm before mailing |
| Crook County Circuit Court courthouse resources (courts.oregon.gov) | The two things a filer most needs to know about the building: the drop box in the courthouse lobby, where a filing deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open is filed the same day and one without the appropriate fee attached is returned, and the public OJCIN computer in the lobby, where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases |
| 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules (courts.oregon.gov) | The local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties, effective February 1, 2026: SLR 9.161 making the statewide accounting format mandatory, SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in protective proceedings at 260 NW 2nd Street, SLR 2.011 on proposed orders, SLR 3.051 on remote appearances and SLR 1.173 on the district's two office addresses |
| Crook County Circuit Court local remote hearings (courts.oregon.gov) | How a Webex hearing works, the Oregon Judicial Department litigant, witness, attorney and public access guides, and the court's remote-hearing contact at 541-447-6541 extension 72157 |
| Crook County Circuit Court technology (courts.oregon.gov) | The court's rules for appearing by telephone or video: telephone appearances must be preapproved by a judge under SLR 3.051, a video appearance request must be filed no later than five days before the hearing, and each courtroom is limited to two incoming phone lines |
| Crook County Circuit Court calendars (courts.oregon.gov) | The daily circuit court calendars, the Webex conference lines for the Crook courtrooms and the live stream pages. The court warns that calendars change during the day, so verify an appearance time on the day |
| Oregon Judicial Department estate forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The free statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions and the Claim Against Estate form. Oregon publishes no statewide petition to open a probate |
| Oregon Judicial Department court fees (courts.oregon.gov) | The current fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026, with the ORS 21.170(1) probate tiers. The schedule itself is at https://www.courts.oregon.gov/Documents/2026_CircuitFeeSchedule_public_eff-2026-01-01.pdf |
| OJD eFile (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide electronic filing system, run as Odyssey File and Serve. Mandatory for active Oregon State Bar licensees (UTCR 21.140(1)) and open to self-represented filers who register |
| Oregon Judicial Department records and calendar search (courts.oregon.gov) | The free statewide case index and register of actions for Oregon's circuit courts, which includes Crook County. Documents are not available through it; the paid subscription alternative is https://www.courts.oregon.gov/services/online/Pages/ojcin.aspx |
| Crook County Library law library services (crookcountyor.gov), 175 NW Meadow Lakes Drive, Prineville, 541-447-7978 | The county law library, run by the county library. It states that its law collection covers civil and criminal law including wills and trusts, that staff cannot offer legal advice or help complete legal forms but can point you toward research and make referrals including low or no cost services. It provides Fastcase, HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, Oregon BarBooks and the NOLO legal reference collection, and it links both the statewide Forms Center and the Crook County Circuit Court forms page |
| Oregon State Bar, what is probate (osbar.org) | Plain-language explanation of Oregon probate from the state bar. Not a government agency, but a reputable non-government source |
| Oregon State Bar lawyer referral service (osbar.org), 503-684-3763 or 800-452-7636 in Oregon | Referrals to Oregon probate attorneys and the Bar's Modest Means Program, useful in a county with a very small local bar. The county law library page lists the same numbers and notes the Bar's other referral programs |
| Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Central Oregon office, (541) 385-6944 or 800-678-6944, 42 NW Greeley Avenue, Bend | The legal aid program the county's own law library page names for Crook County. That page states it serves families in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties whose income is at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level, gives its hours as Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and lists its areas as housing, consumer, family law in limited circumstances, education, employment, government benefits, elder law and bankruptcy. Estates are not among the listed areas, so ask whether it can take an estate matter |
| Oregon Law Help (oregonlawhelp.org) | Oregon's legal aid information site, which the county law library links as a guide to free civil legal services. It publishes no probate topic, so use it to confirm which legal aid program covers Crook County and how to apply |
| Crook County Clerk (crookcountyor.gov) | Not the probate office. The Clerk's powers come from ORS chapter 205 and the office handles recording of real property transactions, plats, marriage records and military discharges, along with elections, marriage licenses, domestic partnerships, passports and the Property Value Appeals Board. This is where a deed is recorded when estate real property changes hands, and its Digital Research Room is the online index of recorded documents |
When to hire an attorney
Many Crook County estates are uncontested, and a family that knows what the estate holds can often open one and see it through with limited legal help. Three local facts push the other way. Oregon prescribes no petition form (ORS 111.205(2)), so a self-represented filer is drafting the petition, the order, the notices and the inventory from scratch, and this district adds its own drafting requirement for proposed orders (SLR 2.011). This court has no probate department, no probate clerk and no probate line, and its facilitation service is family law only, so there is no counter specialist to walk a correction through. And the accounting format is compulsory rather than optional here (SLR 9.161), so an account drafted in a form of your own will not do. If you do hire counsel, know that SLR 9.061 requires the attorney for the personal representative to keep time records for twelve months and produce them on the court's request so the court can fix a reasonable fee under ORS 116.183, which is a protection for the estate. Consider counsel when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the four-month window (ORS 115.005), when ranch ground, water rights, timber, a business or out-of-state property has to be valued, sold or divided, when a conservatorship or guardianship has to run alongside the estate, or when a matter looks likely to be set for a contested hearing or trial. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Oregon probate attorney serving Crook County.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Crook County real property and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value early in estate settlement and before you file. That matters here twice over: the petition must state the extent and nature of the assets (ORS 113.035) and the caption must state the value of the estate, because the filing fee is tiered by it (ORS 21.105(1)).
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, whether a petition for appointment of a personal representative or a simple estate affidavit, ready to submit through OJD eFile or to file on paper at the counter in Suite 300, in the courthouse drop box, or by mail to Prineville.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Oregon probate attorney serving Crook County.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in Crook County?
With the Crook County Circuit Court, in Suite 300 at 260 NW 2nd Street, Prineville, OR 97754. Check the address before you drive or mail: the court moved there effective October 28, 2024 and no longer sits at the old courthouse on NE Third Street, and the court's own copy requests page still shows that former address. There is one filing location for the county and the mailing address is the same street address, so you can file at the counter, in the lobby drop box, by mail, or electronically through OJD eFile. Probate here sits in the circuit court rather than a county court, because ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of only six named counties and in the circuit court for every other county. Call 541-447-6541 with a filing question. File in Crook County if the person who died lived here, because that is where the notice to interested persons is published (ORS 113.155(1)), although Oregon's venue rule is broader and filing elsewhere is not a jurisdictional defect (ORS 113.015).
Crook County shares a judicial district with Jefferson County. Does that mean I can file in Madras?
No, and you should not. The shared 22nd Judicial District is an administrative arrangement: Crook and Jefferson Counties share three circuit judges, one Trial Court Administrator and one set of supplementary local rules, and the rules list both courthouses, 260 NW 2nd Street in Prineville and 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, in Madras (SLR 1.173). Venue is still decided county by county under ORS 113.015, and a Crook County estate belongs in Prineville. What the shared district does mean in practice is that a local rule you read for one county applies in the other, and that a web search can easily land you on the Jefferson County page by mistake.
Can I e-file a probate case in Crook County?
Yes. OJD eFile, the statewide electronic filing system run as Odyssey File and Serve, covers Oregon's circuit courts, which includes Crook County. An active licensee of the Oregon State Bar must use it unless the document has to be filed conventionally or the filer holds a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to, and can file at the counter in Suite 300, in the courthouse lobby drop box or by mail instead. The original will is the exception: a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), so e-file an image of it and deliver the original within seven business days with a filing comment saying so, and it counts as filed on the date the image went in (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)(i)). The 22nd District's local rules contain no SLR 2.501, so nothing else is added to the conventional filing list here. An electronic filing is timely to 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)).
How much does it cost to open a probate in Crook County?
The fee is statutory and the same in every Oregon county, tiered by the value of the estate: $278 if the estate is worth less than $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026). A simple estate affidavit is $124, and there is no fee for an amended affidavit (ORS 21.145(4); ORS 114.515(5)). Oregon also charges for each annual or final accounting, at $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 on the same value bands (ORS 21.170(2)), and $281 for any other appearance in a probate proceeding (ORS 21.135(1) and (2)(g); ORS 21.170(4)). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), Crook County adds no local surcharge, and fee waivers and deferrals are available. If you use the drop box, attach the fee: the court says a filing without the appropriate fee attached will not be accepted and will be returned. Confirm the amount with the court at 541-447-6541.
Does Crook County have local probate forms?
Yes, five, and none of them is for a decedent's estate. Fifty-nine forms are scoped to Crook County in the Oregon Judicial Department forms library, and the five in the probate category are all protective proceeding forms: a Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits form, a Court Visitor Report, a Court Visitor Itemization, a Guardians Report, and a Guardianship Authorization to Release Information. The probate simple estate heading on the court's forms page points to the free statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet rather than a local form. The court warns that where two versions of a form exist you should select the Crook version. What nobody publishes is a petition to open a probate: Oregon requires no particular pleadings or forms of pleadings in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), so the petition, the order, the inventory and the notices are drafted documents.
Is there a special form my accounting has to be on in Crook County?
Yes, and this is the local rule most worth knowing. SLR 9.161 of the 22nd Judicial District's supplementary local rules provides that accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the UTCR Appendix of Forms. Statewide, UTCR 9.160 only guarantees that an accounting filed in that format must be accepted in every judicial district; Crook and Jefferson Counties go further and make it compulsory, and the rule expressly reaches a decedent's estate and not just a conservatorship. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes the accounting packet free, so use it from the start. Remember that Oregon charges a fee for each annual and final accounting on the same value bands as the filing fee (ORS 21.170(2)). Note that SLR 9.161 does not appear in the local rules' own table of contents, so it is easy to miss on a quick read.
Can I appear by phone or video in a Crook County probate matter?
Only if the court allows it, and you have to ask in advance. The court's technology page states that all requests to appear for a hearing by telephone must be preapproved by a judge under SLR 3.051, and that a request to appear by video must be filed as soon as possible and no later than five days before the hearing. Each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines, so if more than two parties want to attend by phone they have to conference together first or set up a conference line and give the number to the court when the request is made. SLR 3.051 also requires remote participants to follow the Oregon Judicial Department's attorney, litigant or witness guide. Nothing published makes probate hearings remote by default. Questions about a remote hearing go to 541-447-6541 extension 72157.
What are the exhibit deadlines if my Crook County matter is set for a remote hearing?
They are local, they are strict, and they come from Presiding Judge Order 2023-16, entered in October 2023 for the 22nd Judicial District under UTCR 6.050 and Chief Justice Order 23-028. Documentary exhibits must be filed electronically by 12:00 p.m. two court days before the hearing or trial. Documentary exhibits not filed electronically must be delivered by the same deadline in printed, pre-marked form to the Court Records Window at the Crook County Courthouse, in an envelope or box clearly marked EXHIBITS showing the case number, case name and the date and time of the hearing. Electronic non-documentary exhibits follow the same deadline, and a physical object requires a phone call to the court before 2:00 p.m. three days before. Every exhibit must also reach the other parties by 5:00 p.m. two court days before. Once an exhibit has been e-filed, do not bring duplicate hard copies, although a courtesy copy for the bench is allowed.
How do I look up a Crook County probate case or get copies?
The free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search covers Oregon's circuit courts, so a Crook County estate case appears there. It is an index and register of actions: the Oregon Judicial Department states that results provide basic case information, party information, event entries and dispositions, that the display is not the official ORS 7.020 register record, and that documents are not available through the service. For documents, the court provides a public OJCIN computer in the courthouse lobby where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases, and the remote equivalent is a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. For copies, submit the court's Crook Copy Request Form online, or print it and submit it by mail, by fax or at the customer service window; requests are handled first come, first serve, staff calculate the total cost after the request, postage is added for mailing, and all fees must be paid in full before any copies are made. Audio of a proceeding is requested on a separate form.
What are the Crook County Circuit Court's hours, and is there a filing cutoff?
The court publishes hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (verified July 2026), and closes on legal holidays. It publishes no lunch closure, no separate counter cutoff and no restricted phone-service window, and the district's local rules contain no rule stating courthouse hours, so treat the posted hours as the counter hours. Two routes run later. The drop box in the courthouse lobby takes filings, payments and juror questionnaires, and the court says anything deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open is filed the same day while anything later is filed the next business day; attach the filing fee, because a filing without it is returned, and attach a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a receipt. If you e-file, the deadline is later still: an electronic filing is timely if submitted by 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)).
Is probate in Crook County handled by the county clerk or a county court?
Neither. Crook is a circuit-court county. ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties and in the circuit court for each other county, so a Crook County estate belongs to the Crook County Circuit Court in Suite 300 at 260 NW 2nd Street. The Crook County Clerk is a separate county office whose powers come from ORS chapter 205; it handles recording of real property transactions, plats, marriage records and military discharges, elections, marriage licenses, domestic partnerships, passports and the Property Value Appeals Board, and it publishes nothing about probate. The Clerk matters to an estate when a deed has to be recorded, and its Digital Research Room is the online index of recorded documents.
Do I have to travel to Prineville to settle an estate in Crook County?
Often not at all. A self-represented filer can register for OJD eFile and submit the petition and the later filings electronically, or mail them to the court at 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, OR 97754, and certified copies of the letters can be mailed back at $5 plus 25 cents per page in paper form or $0 delivered electronically (ORS 21.258; Chief Justice Order 23-016; fee schedule effective January 1, 2026). The two things that pull you to the courthouse are the original will, which must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), and any hearing the court sets, since a remote appearance has to be requested and approved rather than being the default. The public OJCIN computer in the courthouse lobby is also the only free way to see filed documents, so a local agent or a copy request is the alternative for an out-of-state filer.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.