Governor Kate Brown has announced that she will appoint two judges to positions on the Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Governor Brown will appoint Jenna Plank to a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Leslie Roberts and will appoint Chanpone Sinlapasai to a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Angel Lopez. Both appointments are effective immediately.

“Judges on the Multnomah County Circuit Court handle a wide variety of cases, many of them complex, and serve an increasingly diverse population,” said Governor Brown. “Jenna Plank and Chanpone Sinlapasai have the experience, work ethic, and compassion to hit the ground running, and to help the court work through its caseload fairly and efficiently."

Jenna Plank earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Portland in 2001 and obtained her law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2005. After graduating from law school, Plank started serving as a prosecutor in the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, where she has served her entire legal career. She currently supervises the misdemeanor unit. Plank also served on the Oregon State Bar Uniform Criminal Jury Instructions Committee and works with mock trial instruction and moot court competitions.

Chanpone Sinlapasai emigrated from Laos to the United States as a refugee at the age of four. She went to college in California. After law school, she worked at the Immigrant Refugee Community Organization and then as an anti-trafficking and domestic violence attorney. She later became a partner at Marandas Sinlapasai Garcia, and currently practices federal immigration law. Sinlapasai has served on several anti-trafficking task forces, the Mexican Consulate Protection Team, the Immigrant Refugee Community Organization Advisory Board, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Citizens Academy. She also is the past chairwoman of the Oregon Commission on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-08-31 17:54:38

Last Update: 2021-08-31 18:04:06