Will Lathrop, a former prosecutor and Newberg Republican, running for attorney general in 2024, in this undated handout image.
Courtesy of campaign
Editor’s note: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Stay informed with OPB on the presidential race, key congressional battles and other local contests and ballot measures in Oregon and Southwest Washington at opb.org/elections.
OPB asked candidates for Oregon’s attorney general the same questions. Candidates were given a 150-word limit. Anything beyond the 150-word total was not included in these responses. Read our coverage of this race here.
To start, please give us your name and basic biographical details, including your current position or job, any elected offices you have held and any key facts you would like voters to know about you.
Will Lathrop, Candidate for Oregon Attorney General
Occupation: Attorney
Prior Government Experience: Deputy District Attorney - Yamhill County, Marion County
Education: Juris Doctor Degree from Willamette University College of Law, 2004; Bachelor’s Degree, University of Puget Sound, 2001.
What are the job duties of the Attorney General?
The Attorney General leads the Oregon Department of Justice and serves as the chief law officer for the state and all its departments. The Attorney General is a law enforcement and law execution position, not a law creation position. Oregon’s Attorney General must enforce Oregon’s laws justly and without a political lens.
It’s the role of the Attorney General to run point on all organized crime - including drug trafficking, human trafficking, racketeering and organized retail theft. The Attorney General is also Oregon’s chief child protection officer. No one relies more on the criminal justice system for protection than our kids. The Department of Justice is also tasked with investigating allegations of public corruption and misuse of taxpayer funds.
As Oregon’s preeminent law enforcement officer, I am committed to solving problems, standing up for victims of crime, and protecting Oregonians by upholding Oregon’s laws.
Why should you be elected Oregon’s Attorney General?
I’m a public servant, an experienced prosecutor, and a victims advocate – not a politician. As child sex-abuse prosecutor for 9 years, I served as a Deputy District Attorney in Yamhill County and in Marion County’s Special Victims Unit. I prosecuted homicides, domestic violence, human trafficking, and drug trafficking cases, but focused on protecting children from sexual abuse and holding pedophiles accountable. I was then recruited to the National District Attorneys Association to modernize law enforcement practices to protect crime victims across the nation.
In 2014, I joined a global human rights organization in Uganda to protect widows and orphans from violence. I then was promoted to lead the West Africa anti-human trafficking operation in Ghana where I led a large multinational team to rescue children from forced labor and prosecute child traffickers.
With local, national and international law enforcement experience, I am uniquely qualified to lead our Department of Justice.
Related: What you need to know about voting in Oregon and Southwest Washington
What do you view as an underutilized power of this office? Please be specific.
The Attorney General is Oregon’s preeminent law enforcement officer. As such, they are supposed to lead the work against organized crime – drug trafficking, human trafficking, organized retail theft, racketeering, and political crime. Nobody in Oregon should be making millions of dollars by exploiting those suffering from addiction, crushing families, and devastating communities. The prevalence of fentanyl and dangerous drugs in our state have left a growing population in Oregon vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
As Oregon’s next Attorney General, I will rebuild the Criminal Justice Division at the Department of Justice. I plan to draw from my law-enforcement experience to work collaboratively with state, local, and federal law enforcement authorities to keep our communities safe, hold drug traffickers accountable and to make it exceedingly difficult to traffic meth and fentanyl in our state.
What is the most pressing legal challenge facing the state? What is your proposed solution to that problem? Please be specific.
Our state agencies, particularly DHS, are failing to protect our kids and follow the law. Recently, there was an $18 million dollar lawsuit against DHS for the placement of Oregon’s foster kids in hotels. The Department of Justice is supposed to advise state agencies on what they can or cannot do. In this case, the judge assigned an outside arbiter to come in and tell DHS what to do because the Department of Justice was failing to do their fundamental job.
Do you support the presidential candidate of your party?
I am laser focused on Oregon’s most pressing public safety issues - not national politics.
Related: Issues important to Oregon voters
Does the Oregon Department of Justice have a culture of defending the state at all costs? Please explain your answer.
There are certainly some examples where the state spends precious resources defending obviously illegal or unlawful actions of the state. The Attorney General holds two important functions: One is to be the legal counsel and defend the state agencies in court, and two is to ensure our state agencies are following the law.
It is not the job of the Attorney General to defend actions of the state that are clearly unlawful.
Are there state laws you would not defend? If so, which ones and why?
The Attorney General’s role is to enforce the law passed by the Legislature, unless they are unequivocally unconstitutional.
The state is currently deep in litigation to implement Ballot Measure 114, a ballot measure passed by voters that would add regulations for firearms in the state. Would you continue to pursue this litigation and implement the law? Are there changes you would make to the state’s legal strategy? If yes, how?
It is the role of the Attorney General to uphold the law. Ballot Measure 114 was passed into law in 2022 and will remain the law pending the ruling of the higher court. It would be unprofessional for me to comment on the specific ongoing litigation without being privy to the internal discussions and confidential information of the litigation team.
Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'
As Attorney General you could be tasked with defending state laws or positions you personally disagree with or could be in a position where you’re asked to defend the state on matters where you believe it’s liable for wrongdoing. How would you balance defending state laws that do not match up with your personal ethics, beliefs or political philosophy?
I do not have a political background, I have a law enforcement background. I have a proven record of enforcing the law. That is what I will do as Attorney General.
As Attorney General you have the power to introduce legislation. If elected, what would be the first two or three bills you would introduce during your first legislative session? Please give some context and explanation for what the bills would accomplish and why they’re necessary.
This is a law enforcement position, not a law creation position. I will be focused on enforcing Oregon’s laws, protecting children from abuse, holding drug traffickers accountable, and cracking down on public corruption.
If there was legislation that I would encourage others to introduce, it would be to make the Attorney General a non-partisan position. Law enforcement positions should never be partisan or political.
Oregon has had the same Attorney General since 2012. As an outsider, what would you do differently?
Oregon was once a leader in victim protection and had a dynamic approach to law enforcement, victims’ rights, and the rights of defendants. Over the past decade we have gone from first to worst in nearly every category. Oregonians are most concerned about crime, drug trafficking, and public safety. As the only outsider in this race, my leadership will focus on problem-solving and enforcing Oregon’s laws to keep our communities safe.
As Attorney General, I am going to protect children from abuse, combat drug trafficking and crime, and curb public corruption in Oregon. We can’t keep electing the same politicians and expect different results. I am confident that together, we can fix this.
In 2022, Oregon lawmakers passed SB 1584, which allows people who are wrongfully convicted to seek compensation. But few found innocent have received compensation. Publicly, the Oregon Department of Justice has made a distinction between people being “exonerated” saying it’s not the same as “innocent.” Is this how the law should work? Are there any changes you would make?
I am in alignment with the Department of Justice on this matter.
