Judge Thomas B. Powers

Thomas B. Powers was appointed to the 10th Judicial District (Union and Wallowa counties) in April 2017 by Governor Kate Brown, filling the seat vacated when Judge Brian Dretke resigned. The Valor Investigates corpus notes that Dretke was a former Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon associate (~1997-2000) -- the predecessor firm to Baum Smith, LLC.

Case No. 25CV22067 -- 'In the Matter of the Petition of the Board of County Commissioners of Union County for a Judicial Examination and Judgment of the Court as to the Regularity, Legality, Validity and Effect of the Union County Term Limit Ordinance' -- was filed as a special statutory proceeding under ORS 33.710 to 33.720 with no jury trial available. Notice ran in the East Oregonian on April 16, 23, and 30, 2025. Wyatt S. Baum, OSB #111773, of Baum Smith, LLC, filed as attorney for petitioner.

On August 25, 2025, Powers ruled the ordinance unconstitutional under Article VI, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution. The decision tracks the Oregon Court of Appeals' 2018 holding in State ex rel. Smith v. Hitt, 291 Or. App. 750, which held that Article VI, Section 8 provides the exclusive qualifications for county commissioners and that additional qualifications imposed by local ordinance (including term limits) are impermissible. Commissioners were informed of the ruling at the September 3, 2025 regular board meeting. No appeal was filed within the 30-day direct-appeal window. In 2026, Levi Bakke moved to set aside the judgment as void under ORCP 71 B(1)(d); the OECI docket records that Powers signed and entered the denial on May 4, 2026. The order calls the claimed notice defect 'at best procedural,' finds that the La Grande Observer did not qualify for the April 2025 notice, and finds that the East Oregonian did qualify.

OECI lists digitized documents for both the August 2025 judgment and the May 4, 2026 opinion and order. A fresh docket check on August 9, 2026 showed no event after the May 4 order and continued to list the case as closed.