Wyatt S. Baum

Wyatt S. Baum is a founding partner of Baum Smith, LLC in La Grande, serving Union, Wallowa, Baker, and Umatilla counties. He was licensed to the Oregon State Bar on May 16, 2011 after graduating from Willamette University College of Law in 2010. His practice focuses on municipal and government law; he serves as Union County counsel and regularly advises other public bodies across Eastern Oregon. He earned Super Lawyers 'Rising Stars' recognition each year from 2018 through 2021.

In May 2018, the county administrator -- at County Clerk Lisa Feik's request -- asked Baum for a legal opinion on Ordinance 2017-01 after the Oregon Court of Appeals decided State ex rel. Smith v. Hitt. Baum's June 2018 opinion outlined three options: (1) the commissioners could file a petition for validation; (2) the county clerk could file once someone attempted to register for a third term; or (3) a term-limited commissioner could file personally. In January 2025 he reviewed the opinion with the board and recommended Option 1. According to the January 22, 2025 minutes, he told commissioners he 'prefers the second option, a petition to the court for a writ of review to determine the legality of the measure,' and he named Judge Powers as the likely presiding judge.

Baum filed the validation petition in Union County Circuit Court as Case No. 25CV22067 under ORS 33.710 to 33.720. The notice and summons, dated April 7, 2025, identifies him as 'Attorney for Petitioner, Wyatt S. Baum, OSB No. 111773, of Baum Smith, LLC.' Notice was published in the East Oregonian on April 16, 23, and 30, 2025. Judge Thomas Powers ruled Ordinance 2017-01 unconstitutional on August 25, 2025.

The Valor Investigations corpus places Baum within a multi-generational Union County power structure. His grandfather David C. Baum chaired the Grande Ronde Hospital's first Board of Trustees from 1962 to 1977 (15 consecutive years) and founded the GRH Foundation in 1969. His father, the late Ray Baum, served in the Oregon House (1989-1997), became House Majority Leader in 1995, chaired the Oregon PUC (2010-2011), and later worked as staff director of the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee under Rep. Greg Walden. The federal RAY BAUM's Act (P.L. 115-141) is named for him. Wyatt Baum sits on the GRH Foundation board -- the same foundation his grandfather established.

According to reporting summarized in the corpus, Baum was present during the January 22, 2025 discussion and vote and 'at no point did he suggest or advise that action would represent an ethics violation.' The OGEC investigation (Case 25-708ECF) targets Commissioner Scarfo -- not Baum -- but Baum's role as the legal instrument of the validation petition is central to the complaint's theory of the case.