Stalking awareness series continues in Oregon

Oregon recently modernized and expanded the state’s stalking statute as of July 1, 2024, but many are not familiar with the changes. Incoming St. Helen’s Police Chief Matthew Smith played an instrumental role, along with victims and legislators, in the drafting and passing of House Bill 4156, the “Modernization of Oregon’s Anti-Stalking Law,” which had not been updated since its inception in 1995.

“It’s important to raise awareness about the stalking statute because it’s new and a lot of people might be under the assumption the old stalking statute is in effect and thus what they're dealing with, on a personal level, we can’t do anything about,” said Smith. “That’s why we brought up redefining what contact is; that tracking and [use of] individual electronics, such as placing GPS trackers on a person’s car, is actually an element of stalking. Now if you do have people that are electronically tracking you, that’s an element we can take action on.”

This critical update came about due to a case of a woman being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. The woman worked with Smith and they discovered hidden GPS trackers in her car. "What was frustrating for me as an officer was people were being stalked by people and being tracked by people but using electronic means to do it,” said Smith. “Under the old stalking statute, that wasn’t considered contact; thus, the stalking statute didn’t apply, so that was something I realized immediately on the case that I was investigating was a huge problem.”

Smith also connected with former Ms. Oregon, Amber Rosenberry, who was battling a stalking issue of her own. “Amber and I sat down and itemized all the things that happened to her, and all the things that happened to my victim,” said Smith. “We knew we were not capturing everything, which is why it’s really important women come forward and report because, if you have state legislatures and officers who are willing to work together to address these statutory issues, we don’t know these exist unless they are reported to us.”

According to Billtrack50.com, which documents legislative changes, the bill “also increases the penalties for stalking and violating a stalking protective order in certain circumstances, such as when the perpetrator has a prior conviction for stalking or violating a protective order, is the subject of an active protective order, or commits a felony or other specific offense against the victim.”

Under the new bill, the definition of “contact” has been significantly expanded to obtaining, transferring, creating, uttering or converting a victim's identification to another person's own use. It also expands the statute to encompass a range of electronic and internet harassment, including efforts to damage a victim’s identity and credit rating. Examples include sharing or threatening to share intimate images, or “the use of an electronic service, application, device or other electronic means to obtain, monitor or interfere with the location, communication or activities of the other person without the consent of the other person.”

The expanded law also includes a provision of prohibited “contact” and includes “causing a third person to harass, humiliate or injure the other person by sharing the other person’s name, image or personal information, also known as doxxing.”

Regarding the expanded stalking statute, Smith said, “I hope that investigators on task forces on human trafficking find this statute useful, and I would only hope if they find out it isn’t [that] they can please contact me and explain to me what is missing [and] what we did wrong so we can fix it.”

Additionally, House Bill 2299 was passed by the Oregon Legislature on June 11, 2025 and takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026. This act modifies the crime of unlawful dissemination of an intimate image to include the disclosure of digitally created, manipulated or altered images. As discussed in the prior article, stalking and harassment can take the form of revenge and intention to humiliate or defame character, among other acts, and digital and cyber is no exception.

“Current Oregon law has not kept up with artificial intelligence, and there is not a law that prohibits the dissemination of intimate AI-generated images,” said Oregon House District 1 Representative Kevin Mannix. “HB 2299 addresses this issue. The legislation was carefully crafted with the help of the Oregon Department of Justice and District Attorneys, as well as input from law enforcement.”

The bill increases the maximum penalty for first-degree offenders to five years’ imprisonment and/or a $125,000 fine. Repeat offenders would face up to 10 years’ imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine, among other charges.

This article is the second in a series of five that will be published throughout the month of July. Next week, we will examine the impact on victims subjected to stalking and harassment.