165.540 Obtaining contents of communications. (1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 133.724 or 133.726 or subsections (2) to (8) of this section, a person may not:
(a) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a telecommunication or a radio communication to which the person is not a participant, by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, unless consent is given by at least one participant.
(b) Tamper with the wires, connections, boxes, fuses, circuits, lines or any other equipment or facilities of a telecommunication or radio communication company over which messages are transmitted, with the intent to obtain unlawfully the contents of a telecommunication or radio communication to which the person is not a participant.
(c) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a conversation by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, if not all participants in the conversation are specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained.
(d) Obtain the whole or any part of a conversation, telecommunication or radio communication from any person, while knowing or having good reason to believe that the conversation, telecommunication or radio communication was initially obtained in a manner prohibited by this section.
(e) Use or attempt to use, or divulge to others, any conversation, telecommunication or radio communication obtained by any means prohibited by this section.
(2)(a) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to:
(A) Officers, employees or agents of a telecommunication or radio communication company who perform the acts prohibited by subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c
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 165 — Offenses Involving Fraud or Deception
ORS sections in this chapter were amended or repealed by the Legislative Assembly during its 2026 regular session. See the table of ORS sections amended or repealed during the 2026 regular session: 2026 A&R Tables
New sections of law were added by legislative action to this ORS chapter or to a series within this ORS chapter by the Legislative Assembly during its 2026 regular session. See sections in the following 2026 Oregon Laws chapters: 2026 Session Laws 0067
New sections of law were enacted by the Legislative Assembly during its 2026 regular session and pertain to or are likely to be compiled in this ORS chapter. See sections in the following 2026 Oregon Laws chapters: 2026 Session Laws 0067
2025 EDITION
OFFENSES INVOLVING FRAUD OR DECEPTION
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
FORGERY AND RELATED OFFENSES
BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL OFFENSES
CRIMES INVOLVING COMMUNICATIONS
CELLULAR TELEPHONES
USE OF PEN REGISTERS AND TRAP AND TRACE DEVICES
FALSE CLAIMS FOR HEALTH CARE PAYMENTS
IDENTITY THEFT AND RELATED OFFENSES
MISCELLANEOUS
PENALTIES
FORGERY AND RELATED OFFENSES
File SHA-256: 9fea7d88eb20c311fc9ee822d99fcb84f3a12a84e925c1144ae19fbc9a2a2b10. 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:165.540 Source file: ors165.html Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 7ea0013fb2fae633c40746cc3526363a15f8cd7d5b0c1ee5cc2e6bee6a8a918f Retained source evidence SHA-256: 9fea7d88eb20c311fc9ee822d99fcb84f3a12a84e925c1144ae19fbc9a2a2b10
Source location: ORS 165.540 (all printed versions and notes)
Stored source content
165.540 Obtaining contents of communications. (1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 133.724 or 133.726 or subsections (2) to (8) of this section, a person may not:
(a) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a telecommunication or a radio communication to which the person is not a participant, by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, unless consent is given by at least one participant.
(b) Tamper with the wires, connections, boxes, fuses, circuits, lines or any other equipment or facilities of a telecommunication or radio communication company over which messages are transmitted, with the intent to obtain unlawfully the contents of a telecommunication or radio communication to which the person is not a participant.
(c) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a conversation by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, if not all participants in the conversation are specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained.
(d) Obtain the whole or any part of a conversation, telecommunication or radio communication from any person, while knowing or having good reason to believe that the conversation, telecommunication or radio communication was initially obtained in a manner prohibited by this section.
(e) Use or attempt to use, or divulge to others, any conversation, telecommunication or radio communication obtained by any means prohibited by this section.
(2)(a) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to:
(A) Officers, employees or agents of a telecommunication or radio communication company who perform the acts prohibited by subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c) of this section for the purpose of construction, maintenance or conducting of their telecommunication or radio communication service, facilities or equipment.
(B) Public officials in charge of and at jails, police premises, sheriffs’ offices, Department of Corrections institutions and other penal or correctional institutions, except as to communications or conversations between an attorney and the client of the attorney.
(b) Officers, employees or agents of a telecommunication or radio communication company who obtain information under paragraph (a) of this subsection may not use or attempt to use, or divulge to others, the information except for the purpose of construction, maintenance, or conducting of their telecommunication or radio communication service, facilities or equipment.
(3) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) of this section do not apply to subscribers or members of their family who perform the acts prohibited in subsection (1) of this section in their homes.
(4) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a) of this section do not apply to the receiving or obtaining of the contents of any radio or television broadcast transmitted for the use of the general public.
(5) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(c) of this section do not apply to:
(a) A person who records a conversation during a felony that endangers human life;
(b) A person who records a conversation in which a law enforcement officer is a participant, if:
(A) The recording is made while the officer is performing official duties;
(B) The recording is made openly and in plain view of the participants in the conversation;
(C) The conversation being recorded is audible to the person by normal unaided hearing; and
(D) The person is in a place where the person lawfully may be;
(c)(A) A person who, pursuant to ORS 133.400, records an interview conducted by a peace officer in a law enforcement facility; or
(B) A person who, pursuant to ORS 133.402, records a custodial interview, as defined ORS 133.402;
(d) A law enforcement officer who is in uniform and displaying a badge and who is operating:
(A) A vehicle-mounted video camera that records the scene in front of, within or surrounding a police vehicle, unless the officer has reasonable opportunity to inform participants in the conversation that the conversation is being obtained; or
(B) A video camera worn upon the officer’s person that records the officer’s interactions with members of the public while the officer is on duty, unless:
(i) The officer has an opportunity to announce at the beginning of the interaction that the conversation is being obtained; and
(ii) The announcement can be accomplished without causing jeopardy to the officer or any other person and without unreasonably impairing a criminal investigation; or
(e) A law enforcement officer who, acting in the officer’s official capacity, deploys an Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology device that contains a built-in monitoring system capable of recording audio or video, for the duration of that deployment.
(6)(a) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(c) of this section do not apply to persons who intercept or attempt to intercept oral communications that are part of any of the following proceedings, if the person uses an unconcealed recording device or if the communications occur through a video conferencing program:
(A) Public or semipublic meetings such as hearings before governmental or quasi-governmental bodies, trials, press conferences, public speeches, rallies and sporting or other events;
(B) Regularly scheduled classes or similar educational activities in public or private institutions; or
(C) Private meetings or conferences if all others involved knew or reasonably should have known that the recording was being made.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(c) of this section do not apply to a person who, with the intent to capture alleged unlawful activity, obtains or attempts to obtain a conversation occurring through a video conferencing program if the person is a participant in the conversation, or at least one participant in the conversation consents to the recording, and:
(A) The person is a law enforcement officer or is acting in coordination with a law enforcement officer;
(B) The person is acting in coordination with an attorney or an enforcement or regulatory entity; or
(C) The person reasonably believes that the recording may be used as evidence in a judicial or administrative proceeding.
(7) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a), (c), (d) and (e) of this section do not apply to any:
(a) Radio communication that is transmitted by a station operating on an authorized frequency within the amateur or citizens bands; or
(b) Person who intercepts a radio communication that is transmitted by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the general public provided that the interception is not for purposes of illegal activity.
(8) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(d) and (e) of this section do not apply to a person who did not participate in initially obtaining the conversation, telecommunication or radio communication if the conversation, telecommunication or radio communication is regarding a matter of public concern.
(9) Violation of subsection (1) or (2)(b) of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(10) The exception described in subsection (5)(b) of this section does not authorize the person recording the law enforcement officer to engage in criminal trespass as described in ORS 164.243, 164.245, 164.255, 164.265 or 164.278 or to interfere with a peace officer as described in ORS 162.247.
(11) As used in this section:
(a) “Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology device” means a device that uses a high-voltage, low power charge of electricity to induce involuntary muscle contractions intended to cause temporary incapacitation. “Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology device” includes devices commonly known as tasers.
(b) “Law enforcement officer” has the meaning given that term in ORS 133.726. [1955 c.675 §§2,7; 1959 c.681 §2; 1961 c.460 §1; 1979 c.744 §9; 1983 c.693 §1; 1983 c.740 §35; 1983 c.824 §1; 1987 c.320 §87; 1989 c.983 §14a; 1989 c.1078 §1; 2001 c.104 §54; 2001 c.385 §4; 2003 c.14 §62; 2007 c.879 §1; 2009 c.488 §2; 2015 c.550 §2; 2015 c.553 §1; 2019 c.216 §3; 2021 c.357 §2; 2023 c.234 §1]
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Oregon criminal law — ORS Title 16 (2025 snapshot) · legal_authorities
162.247 Interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer. (1) A person commits the crime of interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer if the person, knowing that another person is a peace officer or a parole and probation officer as defined in ORS 181A.355, intentionally or knowingly acts in a manner that prevents, or attempts to prevent, the peace officer or parole and probation officer from performing the lawful duties of the officer with regard to another person or a criminal investigation.
(2) Interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer is a Class A misdemeanor.
(3) This section does not apply:
(a) In situations in which the person is engaging in passive resistance.
(b) To the act of informing another person of the other person’s civil or constitutional rights.
(4) A person may not be arrested or charged under this section if the person is arrested or charged for another offense based on the same conduct. [1997 c.719 §1; 1999 c.1040 §7; 2005 c.668 §1; 2021 c.254 §1; 2025 c.246 §3]
Note: 162.247 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 162 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.
164.243 Criminal trespass in the second degree by a guest. A guest commits the crime of criminal trespass in the second degree if that guest intentionally remains unlawfully in a transient lodging after the departure date of the guest’s reservation without the approval of the hotelkeeper. “Guest” means a person who is registered at a hotel and is assigned to transient lodging, and includes any individual accompanying the person. [1979 c.856 §2]
165.543 Interception of communications. (1) Except as provided in ORS 133.724 or as provided in ORS 165.540 (2)(a), any person who willfully intercepts, attempts to intercept or procures any other person to intercept or attempt to intercept any wire or oral communication where such person is not a party to the communication and where none of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(2) As used in this section, the terms “intercept” and “wire or oral communication” have the meanings provided under ORS 133.721. [1983 c.824 §3]
166.270 Possession of weapons by certain felons. (1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the law of this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the Government of the United States, who owns or has in the person’s possession or under the person’s custody or control any firearm commits the crime of felon in possession of a firearm.
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the law of this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the Government of the United States, who owns or has in the person’s possession or under the person’s custody or control any instrument or weapon having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force or any blackjack, slungshot, sandclub, sandbag, sap glove, metal knuckles or an Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology device as defined in ORS 165.540, or who carries a dirk, dagger or stiletto, commits the crime of felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a person “has been convicted of a felony” if, at the time of conviction for an offense, that offense was a felony under the law of the jurisdiction in which it was committed. Such conviction shall not be deemed a conviction of a felony if:
(a) The court declared the conviction to be a misdemeanor at the time of judgment; or
(b) The offense was possession of marijuana and the conviction was prior to January 1, 1972.
(4) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to any person who has been:
(a) Convicted of only one felony under the law of this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of only one felony under the laws of the United States, which felony did not involve criminal homicide
166.715 Definitions for ORS 166.715 to 166.735. As used in ORS 166.715 to 166.735, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) “Documentary material” means any book, paper, document, writing, drawing, graph, chart, photograph, phonograph record, magnetic tape, computer printout, other data compilation from which information can be obtained or from which information can be translated into usable form, or other tangible item.
(2) “Enterprise” includes any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, business trust or other profit or nonprofit legal entity, and includes any union, association or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity, and both illicit and licit enterprises and governmental and nongovernmental entities.
(3) “Investigative agency” means the Department of Justice or any district attorney.
(4) “Pattern of racketeering activity” means engaging in at least two incidents of racketeering activity that have the same or similar intents, results, accomplices, victims or methods of commission or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics, including a nexus to the same enterprise, and are not isolated incidents, provided at least one of such incidents occurred after November 1, 1981, and that the last of such incidents occurred within five years after a prior incident of racketeering activity. Notwithstanding ORS 131.505 to 131.525 or 419A.190 or any other provision of law providing that a previous prosecution is a bar to a subsequent prosecution, conduct that constitutes an incident of racketeering activity may be used to establish a pattern of racketeering activity without regard to whether the conduct previously has been the subject of a criminal prosecution or conviction or a juvenile court adjudicatio