Can I sue a state trooper in Oregon and what paperwork would I need/where would I get it?

A suit against a state trooper is essentially a suit against their employer, the State of Oregon. The state and their employees are immune from suit except as allowed by statute. Part of the statute that allows such suits is the requirement that you send a notice of intent to file a tort claim to the state within 180 days of the incident. For civil rights violations, these suits are often filed in federal court. It is hard to say more since you have not specified what the problem is that is making you want to file a lawsuit. However do know that that all the resources of the state will be put to defend any suit. This is something that you should not do without the assistance of a lawyer.

Yes you can sue a State trooper. You can sue in state or federal court, but in order to sue in federal court you must have a federal claim against the trooper. A civil rights claim can be brought against the trooper for excessive force, false arrest or some other violation of the Constitution. You are entitled to your damages, attorney fees and sometime punitive damages. You can ONLY sue the individual trooper for this claim. You have two years to file and you do not need to send any type of notice to the trooper or the Oregon State Police first. This type of civil rights claim can be brought in State court together with any type of tortious conduct such as malicious prosecution, assault, battery or false imprisonment. However, if you bring a tort claim against the trooper--as opposed to the federal civil rights claim--you may be barred from bringing the state tort in federal court as the 11th Amendment bars claims against the state itself without consent. A tort claim against the trooper is really a claim against the government--here that would be the State of Oregon--and as such you cannot sue the State in federal court for money. If you are willing to forego the torts which have damage limits and no attorney fees, you can simply file the civil rights claims in federal court. If you decided to bring a tort claim against the trooper and the Oregon State Police you have 180 days to send a Notice of Tort Claim and two years to file in court.