Harl H. Haas Jr.

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Harl H. Haas Jr. (December 24, 1932 – September 21, 2013) was an American politician and judge in Oregon. A Democrat, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislature, then became Multnomah County District Attorney and later a circuit court judge.

Early life
He was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. After his parents’ divorce when he was two, he was raised by his mother. He spent a year at Southeast Missouri State University before moving to Montana. He served two years in the U.S. Army, then studied at the University of Montana. He earned a law degree from Willamette University College of Law in 1961 and passed the Oregon Bar the same year.

Family
He married Sharron Haas, then Mary Lou Calvin, and had two daughters, Holly and Amy.

Political and legal career
Haas was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives for Portland and served 1969–1971. He then served in the Oregon Senate from 1971 to 1972. In 1972 he became Multnomah County District Attorney, later winning a second term in 1976 and serving until 1980. As DA, he started the first rape-victims assistance program in the country (1974) and created restitution and crime-victims programs, the first of their kind in Oregon. He also faced a DUI conviction in 1977 while DA. He ran for Oregon Attorney General in 1980 but lost to David B. Frohnmayer.

Judicial career and legacy
In 1984 Haas was elected to the Multnomah County Circuit Court and began serving in January 1985, retiring in 2001. A notable case was the 1985 murder trial of Sandra Jones, during which he disqualified the prosecutor Joshua Marquis. In 1991 he started a drug court program to help offenders and victims. Haas died of lung cancer in Portland on September 21, 2013, at age 80.