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This legislation appoints three alternates to full membership on the Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA), to fill three vacancies. It also requests that administrative staff supporting the CBPA begin the process of re-evaluating previous applicants to provide Council with options to appoint previous applicants as alternates. The CBPA has 21 member and 6 alternate positions; following this legislation, all 21 members and 1/6 alternates will be filled.

This legislation also adjusts the term lengths of remaining members to align with the meeting dates of the CBPA, which will hold its first meeting on February 11, 2026.

This body was established per Ballot Measure 26-217, which was approved by 82% of the voters on November 3, 2020. It amended City Charter, establishing a new oversight system. The Police Accountability Commission (PAC), appointed by City Council, spent two years gathering information from community members and made recommendations to the former City Council. Using existing federal, state, and local laws, the former City Council took some of the PAC's recommendations and directed that bargaining occur with Portland Police Bureau's two unions, Portland Police Association (PPA) and Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA).  In order for the City to be in compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s settlement agreement, the City must establish "a new Community Police Oversight Board to replace IPR for investigations of certain complaints of police misconduct and to replace the Chief of Police for imposition of discipline." (195)

Staff in the City Operations Service Area for the Community Board for Police Accountability worked with the Office of Civic Life to conduct an open recruitment for applicants to serve on the CBPA, with applications open for 45 days and closing on April 14, 2025. A 10-member nominating committee defined in City Code 35.20.010.B.2 reviewed applications and forwarded finalists to City Council for appointment; the nominating committee included:

1. Two members from the Citizen Review Committee (CRC);
2. One community member from each Council district as designated by the Council members of that district;
3. One representative from the Office of Equity and Human Rights;
4. One representative designated by the Chief of Police;
5. One representative from the Portland Police Association (PPA); and
6. One representative from the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA)

121 individuals applied for the Board, representing 4.4 applications received for each Board position available, including:

• 118 applications were initially deemed eligible and reviewed and scored by the Nominating Committee. An application was ineligible if the applicant did not meet one of the membership requirements outlined in City Code.
• 77 applications received a passing score from the majority of Nominating Committee of 60% or higher. The Nominating Committee debriefed each of these 77 applications in their meetings. At the end of each discussion, that application was voted on. If an application received majority support, six or more votes, it was recommended to Council.
• 43 applications received the majority of votes that were needed to advance further in the process, though one applicant withdrew prior to the next step in the review process for personal reasons.
• The next step was a conflict-of-interest check. Two applications were removed because they were identified as having a conflict-of-interest and/or failed to meet another eligibility requirement.
• 40 applicants were presented to Council; and Council eventually chose 21 individuals to serve as the Board's initial membership and 6 additional individuals to serve as alternates.

Council appointed 21 community members as members, and 6 community members as alternates, to the CBPA on June 18, 2025, pending background checks and other administrative requirements.

The first meeting of the CBPA is scheduled for February 11, 2026.