163.555 Criminal nonsupport. (1) A person commits the crime of criminal nonsupport if, being the parent, lawful guardian or other person lawfully charged with the support of a child under 18 years of age, born in or out of wedlock, the person knowingly fails to provide support for such child.
(2) It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that either parent has contracted a subsequent marriage, that issue has been born of a subsequent marriage, that the defendant is the parent of issue born of a prior marriage, that the child is being supported by another person or agency or that the defendant was adjudicated not to be a parent of the child under ORS 109.148.
(3) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant has a lawful excuse for failing to provide child support.
(4) If the defendant intends to rely on the affirmative defense created in subsection (3) of this section, the defendant must give the district attorney written notice of the intent to do so at least 30 days prior to trial. The notice must describe the nature of the lawful excuse upon which the defendant proposes to rely. If the defendant fails to file notice as required by this subsection, the defendant may not introduce evidence of a lawful excuse unless the court finds there was just cause for the defendant’s failure to file the notice within the required time.
(5) Criminal nonsupport is a Class C felony. [1971 c.743 §175; 1993 c.33 §308; 1999 c.954 §3; 2005 c.502 §1; 2025 c.592 §100]
Stored review status: 2025_edition_later_amendments_unresolved. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
Official chapter context and edition notices
Chapter 163 — Offenses Against Persons
2025 EDITION
OFFENSES AGAINST PERSONS
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
HOMICIDE
ASSAULT AND RELATED OFFENSES
KIDNAPPING AND RELATED OFFENSES
COERCION
SEXUAL OFFENSES
OFFENSES AGAINST FAMILY
VISUAL RECORDING OF SEXUAL CONDUCT OF CHILDREN
INVASION OF PRIVACY
MISCELLANEOUS
STALKING
SEXUAL ABUSE RESTRAINING ORDERS
HOMICIDE
File SHA-256: 81109a43a5631ebec4ebfde641092a6c60ecd13ec77452c9939b53ff86a4d40c. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. This page displays the selected Oregon section record with its printed versions and adjoining notes. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
Authority boundary: official snapshot extraction not current law verified.
Stable record: oregon_criminal_law:legal_authorities:163.555 Source file: ors163.html Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 17d205d1946133696c99ed8c89c5bca30c99ca970c17814190181555ec4bd8fb Retained source evidence SHA-256: 81109a43a5631ebec4ebfde641092a6c60ecd13ec77452c9939b53ff86a4d40c
Source location: ORS 163.555 (all printed versions and notes)
Stored source content
163.555 Criminal nonsupport. (1) A person commits the crime of criminal nonsupport if, being the parent, lawful guardian or other person lawfully charged with the support of a child under 18 years of age, born in or out of wedlock, the person knowingly fails to provide support for such child.
(2) It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that either parent has contracted a subsequent marriage, that issue has been born of a subsequent marriage, that the defendant is the parent of issue born of a prior marriage, that the child is being supported by another person or agency or that the defendant was adjudicated not to be a parent of the child under ORS 109.148.
(3) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant has a lawful excuse for failing to provide child support.
(4) If the defendant intends to rely on the affirmative defense created in subsection (3) of this section, the defendant must give the district attorney written notice of the intent to do so at least 30 days prior to trial. The notice must describe the nature of the lawful excuse upon which the defendant proposes to rely. If the defendant fails to file notice as required by this subsection, the defendant may not introduce evidence of a lawful excuse unless the court finds there was just cause for the defendant’s failure to file the notice within the required time.
(5) Criminal nonsupport is a Class C felony. [1971 c.743 §175; 1993 c.33 §308; 1999 c.954 §3; 2005 c.502 §1; 2025 c.592 §100]
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