VICTIMS:
Susan King
October 1, 2015
Multnomah County Circuit Court
Judge Patrick W. Henry
Contact Information
Courtroom: 14-B
Office: 14200
Judicial Assistant: Mary Jane B. Simpson
Judicial Clerk: Judicial Directory
Phone: 971-274-0688
Judge Henry also sits at the Juvenile Justice Center two months each year.
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Judge Henry – Email Info
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Judge Henry – Fax Info
Biography
Judge Patrick Henry took the oath of office on October 16, 2015 after was appointed to the Multnomah County Circuit Court bench by Governor Kate Brown.
Judge Henry serves on the Family Law bench, and handles a variety of family law, probate, and juvenile law cases. He also shares with several other judges the primary responsibility for the criminal misdemeanor and restraining order cases that involve domestic violence charges.
Judge Henry received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame where he was a Thomas J. White Scholar and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. He began his legal career in 1993 as a litigator with the Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt law office and joined Office of Multnomah County Attorney in 1999. Since joining the county, Judge Henry has served as general counsel to the Department of County Human Services which includes the Aging, Disability, and Veterans Services Division, the Mental Health and Addiction Services Division, the Domestic Violence Coordination Office, and the Developmental Disabilities Services Division.
In his role as a Senior Assistant County Attorney, Judge Henry worked closely with the department and its community partners to support vulnerable individuals and to improve the community’s response to people in crisis and in need of services. Among other roles, Judge Henry served on the Interagency Committee on Abuse Prevention, the Law Enforcement/Adult Protective Services Multidisciplinary Team, and the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. In 2015, he spearheaded the county’s effort to pass HB 3323, which gives the County Attorney’s office the authority to seek civil penalties against individuals who engage in the physical or financial abuse of elderly and disabled Multnomah County residents.
Judge Henry’s father was a civilian employee of the Navy and his mother taught high school math. Judge Henry is a native Virginian and came to the Northwest to serve in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in 1987.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry in his office where he has been an assistant county attorney for 17 years.
The Senior Assistant County Attorney was plowing through paperwork in his Multnomah Building office last Wednesday when his cell phone buzzed. Salem. A number he didn’t recognize.
“Pat Henry,”’ he said.
“Patrick Henry? This is Kate Brown.”
Oregon’s governor was calling to appoint Henry, 53, to be the next Multnomah County Circuit Court(link is external) judge. It was only the second time they’d spoken, and came after the governor’s office had conducted months of interviews, shortlists and deliberations.
Henry, who has spent most of his adult life working with people buffeted and broken by crisis, paused as the governor’s offer sank in. Relief, excitement, and a bit of anxiety rocketed through his mind.
“I’d be honored.’’
Henry is scheduled to be sworn in on Oct. 16, 2015, becoming one of 38 judges serving in Multnomah County and one of 10 presiding in family and juvenile court. He replaces Judge Paula J. Kushner, who is retiring.
Family court is the front line of modern interpersonal conflict, with its flashpoints of domestic violence, custody disputes, child abuse, restraining orders, civil commitments and divorce. Henry has more experience with turmoil than most.
“We are thrilled to have someone with Patrick’s deep experience in working with families, vulnerable populations and probate issues joining us our bench,’’ said Presiding Judge Nan G. Waller. “Patrick will bring a respectful, problem-solving approach to this role which will benefit our community.”
A career in Human Services
As general counsel to the Department of County Human Services, Henry has been the legal arm of the Aging, Disability, and Veteran Services Division, the Mental Health and Addiction Services Division, the Domestic Violence Coordination Office and the Developmental Disabilities Services Division. He saw his job as working to improve the community and county’s response to people who are in crisis and need of services.
“Patrick upped our game. His advice and review made us better able to respond to the difficult situations our clients face and he always erred on making decisions to support the people we serve,’’ said Liesl Wendt, director of the Department of County Human Services.
As an attorney, he tried dozens of cases for the county, conducting investigations by the public guardian and into adult care homes, defending the county against tort claims, serving as the county’s lead on health reform and navigating the state and federal mazes of contracting, business associations, the Americans with Disabilities Act, public records rules and licensing law.
He also reviewed hundreds of cases of people harming one another, serving on the Interagency Committee on Abuse Prevention, the Law Enforcement/Adult Protective Services Multidisciplinary Team, and the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. In 2015, he spearheaded the new law allowing county attorneys to seek civil penalties against people who physically or financially abuse the elderly or disabled residents.
“Patrick was a key member of our county team and he always, always, had the public good as his priority,’’said Joanne Fuller, Health Department director and former director of the Department of Community Justice and County Human Services. “There were times, I didn’t want to hear what he had to say, but I always paid attention. He made a difference.’’
A patriot by any other name
All things being equal, it is easier to live in Oregon with the name Patrick Henry than in Washington D.C. where he grew up. He was not, as his fellow Virginians supposed, named for the Virginia patriot who proclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death,’’ but named instead for his grandfather, the son of an Irish immigrant who studied the law and died young. Henry’s father was a civilian employee for the Navy, his mother a math teacher. As the second of seven children in a competitive, athletic clan, he entered the University of Virginia anxious to earn his way. He earned a degree in environmental science and geology.
After graduation, at a dean’s urging, he began teaching earth science and geology at a high school in Fairfax, VA. He loved the students and school community, but found himself absorbing more and more of the Catholic school’s lessons on social justice and service. After two years, he joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps taking an assignment at a day shelter in downtown Tacoma.
Henry had never never been west of Chicago. Nonetheless, he moved in with other Jesuit volunteers, living on a stipend as he worked to provide meals, clothes and respite for people who were homeless because of mental illness, drug addiction and abuse. At the time, HIV/AIDS was ravaging injection drug users and the gay community. Violence between the HIlltop Crips and Bloods was at a crescendo. It was gritty, stressful work and he loved it. He went for a one-year assignment and stayed three.
People who’ve served as Jesuit volunteers say “you’re ruined for life,’’ by the experience, Henry said. “You don’t see people with the same eyes again,’’ he said. You can’t paint someone with a brush as just a street person, or as a prostitute.You come to know each person is unique and in many cases, has a beautiful story of who they were.’’
“Their lives were filled with hardship and pain,’’ he said, “but they were capable of immense kindness and generosity. That was eye-opening: that people with very little could give so easily, and could be so generous.”
Increasingly frustrated by his limited power to get results on his clients’ behalf, Henry applied to law school, choosing the University of Notre Dame for its focus on ethics and public policy. While there, he became a Thomas J. White Scholar and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. He also became a father. He had married fellow Jesuit volunteer Mary Ann Henry whose family still farms outside of Canby, Oregon.
A move west to better serve
The couple was looking around the country for law firms that allowed new attorneys to also take on public service work when he found Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland. As a litigator, he obtained a settlement on behalf of Latino tenants who had been who had been evicted by owners who had recently acquired the apartment complex in which they resided. He obtained another settlement against an insurance carrier who had denied coverage for a Latino family who had been wrongfully accused of torching their own home.
In 1999, at a mentor’s urging, he joined the Multnomah County Attorney’s Office, where in addition to his human service work, he is known for his play. For more than a decade, Henry has played indoor soccer every Wednesday with a scrum of city and county legal types.
As news of his appointment spread, reaction was bittersweet. “The governor’s decision speaks to the caliber of attorneys at Multnomah County and to the incredible work of Patrick Henry,’’ said Chair Deborah Kafoury. “I will miss his clear thinking and sound advice. But I am thrilled that he is taking on such an important role for the families of this county.”
On Wednesday, after his “humbling’’ conversation with Gov. Brown, Henry telephoned his wife, Mary Ann, who is a chaplain at Providence Health & Services’ Connections, an in-home care for people with life-limiting conditions. Then they called the kids, ages 23 through 17. Joe, who works with CODA Recovery Center, J.P., who is teaching at a legal charter school for African American kids in Chicago, Rachel and Ruth, who are students at Georgetown University, and Kate, a senior at De La Salle North High School. All are also deeply involved in service projects.
“Mary Ann and I are fortunate to have such wonderful kids who share our concern for people who are less fortunate than us,” he said.
Patrick Henry is the Position 35 judge for the 4th Judicial District in Oregon, serving the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He was appointed by Governor Kate Brown (D) on September 25, 2015, and was sworn in on October 16, 2015.[1]
Henry won election to full term without opposition in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Henry received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame. He was a litigator with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt from 1993 to 1999 and joined the Office of Multnomah County Attorney in 1999. At the county office, he served as general counsel to the Department of County Human Services and was the senior assistant county attorney.[1][2]
Elections
2016
Oregon 4th Judicial District, Position 35, General Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Patrick Henry Incumbent (unopposed) 98.05% 202,173
Write-in votes 1.95% 4,026
Total Votes 206,199
Source: Oregon Secretary of State, “Unofficial General Election, November 8, 2016,” January 4, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
Selection method
See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
Judges of the Oregon Supreme Court, Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Circuit Courts are all selected in an identical manner. They are chosen in nonpartisan elections to serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[3]
The chief judges of the circuit courts are appointed by the chief justice of the state supreme court to serve a two-year term.[3]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms ‘Patrick Henry’ Oregon judge. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Patrick Henry (Oregon) – Google News
See also
Oregon 6th Judicial District
Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
Oregon Circuit Courts
