§ 146.760 Immunity of participant in making of report

If you report a death to the authorities as required under ORS 146.750, and you do it honestly and for good reason, you cannot be sued or criminally charged just for making that report. This protection applies even if it turns out the report was wrong, as long as you believed in good faith that you had solid grounds to make it.

This protection also covers you if you have to take part in any court case that comes out of your report. For example, if you testify or get involved in legal proceedings connected to the report, you still have the same legal protection. The point of this rule is to make sure people are not afraid to report deaths when they have a real reason to believe something needs to be looked into. Without this kind of protection, people might stay silent out of fear of being blamed or sued later.