Oregon Historical County Records Guide
Clackamas County Records Inventory
Insane Commitment Records
1846-[ongoing]
Series documents the examination, commitment, and release of mentally ill persons to and from the state's mental institutions. Series contains statements of complaint and commitment recorded by the county clerk or recorder and includes petitions to have an individual committed; physicians certification that an individual is insane; delivery warrants authorizing a county official (usually the sheriff) to take the individual to the state hospital; patient discharges; paroles or transfers; indexes; and correspondence. Information includes patient and family names, date committed, reason, physical description, and a brief family history. This series may also be known as the Insane Record, Mental Illness Record, and Mentally Ill and Feeble Minded Record. By 1968, in most counties, the commitment of the mentally ill or deficient had become the responsibility of the circuit court. Access to these records may be restricted for 75 years by Oregon Revised Statute 192.469.
Records at the Oregon State Archives:
Insane Commitment Records, 1846-1930 (.50 cu.ft.);
Insane Record [Commitment-with index], vol. 1-10, 1890-1941 (10 volumes);
Search for 1854-1889 Clackamas
County insane commitments in Oregon Historical Records Index.
Records at the Clackamas County Courthouse, State Court Civil Case Unit Office:
Mentals [Commitment Case Files], 2005-present (4 cu.ft.).
Records at the Clackamas County Public Services Building, Clerk's Recording Office:
[Clackamas County Recorder Misc. Court Records-includes probate, adoption,
mental commitment, and marriage records], 1976-1978 (1 reel of microfilm);
[Clackamas County Records-includes mental commitment and outside marriage
records], 1972-1975 (2 reels of microfilm);
[Mental Book 1-Commitment Records], vol. 1, 1965-1967 (1 reel of microfilm).
Records at the Clackamas County Records Center, State Court Records Storage:
Mental [Commitment Case Files-title varies], no. M1-M5173, M77.4.1-M05.0649,
1941-2005 (129 cu.ft.).