By CONRAD WILSON/OregonPublic Broadcasting

Marion County is asking for the support of other local governments as it seeks to clarify its obligations under Oregon’s sanctuary law.

The county has asked others to sign onto a letter in support of litigation it filed last month against the state of Oregon and the U.S. Department of Justice. The lawsuit asks a federal court to determine whether Marion County should follow state or federal law when it comes to immigration enforcement.

“Legal uncertainty harms everyone and benefits no one,” the two paragraph letter states. As of last week it was signed by 12 other counties, with more expected to join.

Oregon is the oldest sanctuary state in the country. The original law, enacted in 1987, prohibits using local resources from enforcing federal immigration laws and was strengthened by state lawmakers in 2021. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to cut off federal funds and impose criminal penalties for those who don’t comply with the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.

Marion County filed the lawsuit after federal immigration authorities issued several administrative subpoenas about people on parole convicted of robbery, rape and sex abuse.

Marion County Counsel Steve Elzinga said he was not aware of the county receiving this type of subpoena — an order “seeking public records regarding individuals on parole for violent crimes”— since Oregon strengthened its sanctuary law in 2021.

“Oregon’s sanctuary law was amended in 2021 (HB 3265) with new and internally contradictory provisions that created the current legal uncertainty,” Elzinga said in a statement.

County leaders said they reached out to both the state and federal government for clarity, but found they were in the same legally opaque and vulnerable position.

As of Wednesday, Baker, Clackamas, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Klamath, Linn, Malheur, Polk, Tillamook and Union counties had all signed onto Marion County’s letter.

Campaign finance records indicate Bethell is preparing a run in next year’s Republican primary for governor.

Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who is tasked with defending Oregon’s sanctuary law in court, told OPB that despite the legal question Marion County’s leaders have posed, the state’s law is clear.

“If the federal government gets a judicial warrant, the state of Oregon will comply,” Rayfield said. “An administrative subpoena is not a lawful judicial warrant.”

After the lawsuit was filed, the Oregon State Sheriffs Association circulated a similar letter that also raised questions of the sanctuary law. It was signed by 34 of the state’s 36 county sheriffs.

“We agree that there is a good deal of uncertainty in how these state and federal laws apply to local governments and Sheriff’s Offices in the State of Oregon, including those situations where a Sheriff’s Office or local government is served with an administrative subpoena,” the sheriffs wrote in a letter last month.

The sheriffs from Multnomah and Washington counties did not sign on, but both said they supported or appreciated Marion County’s efforts to seek legal clarification.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane will preside over the case. In 2019, McShane ruled against the first Trump administration when it withheld some grants from Oregon for refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement.