Brian C. Dretke
Former Circuit Court Judge, 10th Judicial District (2012-2017)
Former Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon associate (~1997-2000) and later Circuit Court Judge; the source dossier identified a Bend practice, and he presented one Oregon PLF CLE in 2023.
Last updated August 9, 2026. Public-corpus sources are linked below; internal research references are labeled without a public link.
Key facts
- Oregon State Bar number
- 931414 source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Bar admissions
- Oregon 1993; Maryland 2008; DC 2009 source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Education
- University of Tulsa College of Law (1992); pre-law Tulsa PD (patrol, SWAT, narcotics) source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Mautz Baum tenure
- Associate, Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon (~1997-2000) source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Judgeship
- Circuit Court, 10th Judicial District, Position 1 (Jan 2012 - Mar 1, 2017) source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Appointing governor
- John Kitzhaber (Jan 2012) source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Replaced by
- Thomas B. Powers (appointed by Gov. Kate Brown, April 2017) source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
- Firm identified in source dossier
- The Dretke Law Firm (Bend, OR); present status not independently rechecked source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
Role narrative
Brian C. Dretke was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1993 (OSB 931414), after earlier service with the Tulsa Police Department (patrol, SWAT, narcotics; Chief's Award 1990) and graduation from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1992. He served as Deputy District Attorney in Union County (1993-1996) and Lane County (~1996-1997) before entering private practice at Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon in La Grande from approximately 1997 to 2000 -- working alongside David Baum Jr. and Ray Baum.
Dretke then partnered with W. Eugene Hallman as Hallman & Dretke from 2000 to 2012. In January 2012 Governor John Kitzhaber appointed him to Position 1 of the Union County Circuit Court, filling the seat vacated by retiring Judge Phillip Mendiguren; other applicants were Wes Williams and John Schilling. Dretke served until his resignation on March 1, 2017, citing a desire to return to civil litigation. Governor Kate Brown appointed Thomas B. Powers to the seat in April 2017.
The reviewed source says Dretke moved to Bend after leaving the bench and practiced through The Dretke Law Firm in nursing-home and elder-abuse, personal-injury, and medical-malpractice matters. On June 30, 2023, he presented an Oregon Professional Liability Fund CLE titled 'Handling Personal Injury Cases: Malpractice Traps and Ethical Concerns for Lawyers.' In the 2024 Union County Circuit Court race, a letter from retired Senior Judge Russ West stated that Dretke and the other named former 10th District judges endorsed Jared Boyd over Wes Williams.
Boards & affiliations
10th Judicial District of Oregon
Circuit Court Judge, Position 1
Jan 2012 - Mar 1, 2017
source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)Oregon Judicial Fitness Commission
Member (during judgeship; appointed by Chief Justice Thomas A. Balmer)
source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)Business entities
The Dretke Law Firm
Solo law practice
- Address:
- Bend, OR
The reviewed source identified nursing-home abuse, elder abuse, personal injury, and medical malpractice; present practice status was not independently rechecked.
source: reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)Related corpus files
Public Markdown sources are citizen-auditable on GitHub. Any internal research references are identified below and intentionally are not exposed as broken public links.
Baum family and institutional roles dossier
Dretke career timeline, Mautz Baum tenure, PLF involvement
reports/subjects/baum-family--BAUM_DYNASTY_COMPLETE.md (internal research reference)
Baum family roles and institutions
Dretke as former Baum firm associate; judicial ecosystem
players/baum-family.md
Ask the Union County corpus
The Union County research engine can answer specific questions about Brian C. Dretke and the broader term-limits story. Answers cite indexed leads and expose linked verification sources where available.
- “Did Judge Dretke ever work at the Baum firm?”
- “Who replaced Judge Dretke on the bench?”
- “Who endorsed Jared Boyd in the 2024 judicial race?”
Valor Investigates -- levi@valorinvestigates.com