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We're About More Than Divorce

Divorce & Family Law Attorney in Dallas, Oregon

Regele Law is a Salem family-law firm that does a lot of work in Dallas, because every Polk County family-law case in the state — yours included — runs through the courthouse on Main Street. Founding attorney Stacy Regele has been recognized as an Oregon Super Lawyers Rising Star every year from 2021 through 2026, and our team handles divorce, custody, support, modifications, and estate planning for Dragon families across town. If you’re thinking about filing or you’ve been served, talk to us before you make a move you can’t take back.

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Why Dallas Families Choose Regele Law

Dallas isn’t a bedroom community — it’s the county seat, and that changes everything about how family-law cases get handled here. Judges know the local bar. Court staff recognize the regulars. Filing deadlines and motion practice in Dallas don’t always look identical to what happens 25 minutes east at the Marion County Courthouse. A lawyer who only practices in Salem can miss those differences.

Stacy Regele built Regele Law specifically to handle the whole Mid-Willamette Valley — Marion and Polk counties — with the same level of attention. She’s been named to Oregon Super Lawyers Rising Stars six years running (2021 through 2026, an honor that goes to fewer than 2.5% of eligible Oregon attorneys). Our Google reviews average 4.9 stars. Most importantly, we practice family law and nothing else, which means when you call about a Dallas custody question, you’re not talking to someone who also does personal injury and DUIs on the side.

Serving Dallas from Salem — The Local Picture

Our office is at 1415 Commercial St SE in Salem, about a 20- to 25-minute drive from downtown Dallas via OR-22 and Ellendale Avenue (or OR-99W if you’d rather skip the highway). For most consults we ask Dallas clients to come to Salem; for hearings, of course, we come to you.

A few specifics that matter when you’re a Dallas resident hiring family-law counsel:

  • The courthouse is right there. The Polk County Courthouse sits at 850 Main Street in Dallas, two blocks from the Dallas Dragons’ practice field and a five-minute walk from the historic Academy Building. Dallas residents have the shortest courthouse drive of anyone on the west side of the valley — and the longest drive to a backup. There’s no second courthouse if a hearing gets moved or rescheduled.
  • Everyone in Polk County comes to you. West Salem residents, Monmouth residents, Independence, Falls City, Grand Ronde — every Polk County family-law case files in Dallas. That means the courtroom is busy, and scheduling around the docket matters more than it does in larger counties.
  • Hospital and medical context. Salem Health West Valley Hospital is right in Dallas. Full Salem Hospital is about 25 minutes east. Parenting plans for kids with ongoing medical needs often have to account for which hospital each parent is actually willing to drive to in an emergency.
  • Schools shape parenting time. Dallas High School (“Dragons”), LaCreole Middle School, and the elementary schools all run on the Dallas School District calendar. Parenting plans for split families with kids in Central School District (Monmouth/Independence) or Salem-Keizer have to align two different academic calendars — spring break in particular almost never matches up.
  • County culture. Polk County’s economy still leans on timber heritage, agriculture out toward Rickreall and the Polk County Fairgrounds, government and court jobs in the county seat, and a growing number of state-worker commuters who drive over the bridge to Salem every morning. The mix shows up in cases: pensions from PERS, ag-business valuation issues, and a lot of marriages that started young.
  • Recreation matters too. Dallas City Park’s swimming hole on Rickreall Creek and Roger Jordan Community Park are where a lot of parenting-time exchanges happen. We’ve written more than one parenting plan that names a specific park bench as the handoff spot.

Family Law Services for Dallas Residents

We cover the full family-law practice. Here’s what tends to come up most often for Dallas clients.

  • Divorce. Oregon is a no-fault state — you don’t have to prove fault to dissolve a marriage. You do have to settle property, support, and (if applicable) parenting. Most of our Dallas clients start by asking whether a cooperative divorce is realistic. Often it is. When it isn’t, we’re in trial mode.
  • Property division. Oregon uses equitable distribution. For Dallas families, the most common complications are family-farm acreage out toward Rickreall, equity in a long-held downtown home, and PERS pensions earned by spouses commuting to Salem state jobs.
  • Spousal support. Transitional, compensatory, or maintenance support — the right type depends on the length of the marriage and what each spouse’s earning capacity looks like going forward.
  • Child custody and parenting time. Two flavors under Oregon law: legal (decision-making) and physical (where the kids sleep). For Dallas families, we spend a lot of time on parenting-time schedules that account for working parents commuting east into Salem.
  • Fathers’ rights. Oregon law doesn’t favor mothers. Period. If you’re a Dallas dad worried about being sidelined in a custody case, the law is on your side — but you need to use it correctly.
  • Family law order modifications. Existing custody, parenting-time, and support orders can be modified when life changes substantially. New job at West Valley Hospital? Spouse moving from Dallas out to Falls City? That’s a modification.
  • Estate planning. Every divorce should be paired with a will update — old beneficiary designations are one of the most common ways an ex-spouse accidentally inherits an IRA.

If you have a spouse who’s already moved across the river to Monmouth or Independence, our Monmouth family-law page covers the south end of Polk County. West Salem residents — same county, different neighborhood — should look at our West Salem page.

How a Family-Law Case Actually Works in Polk County

Here’s what the case looks like once you decide to file.

Step 1 — Residency. Oregon requires that you or your spouse have lived in the state for at least six months before filing for divorce. Polk County has no separate residency requirement beyond that — but the case has to be filed in the county where at least one party lives.

Step 2 — Filing. Polk County family-law cases are filed at the Polk County Courthouse, 850 Main Street, Dallas, OR 97338. We file the petition, pay the filing fee, and get a case number. Filing in Dallas instead of Salem comes as a surprise to a lot of clients — especially West Salem residents who assume “Salem” means Marion County.

Step 3 — Service. Your spouse must be formally served. That can be done by a process server, by the Polk County Sheriff, or by acceptance of service if the other side is cooperative.

Step 4 — Response. The other side has 30 days to respond once served. No response can mean a default judgment.

Step 5 — Temporary orders. Need a temporary custody, support, parenting-time, or restraining order while the case is pending? We file motions in Dallas.

Step 6 — Mediation. Polk County requires mediation in most cases involving children before a contested custody hearing. Dallas’s mediation program is small but experienced.

Step 7 — Discovery and negotiation. Most Polk County cases settle. We exchange financial information, value the property, and try to reach an agreement.

Step 8 — Trial. If it can’t settle, we try the case in Dallas. Stacy and Joey are both familiar with the Polk County bench. Our blog post on how divorce works in Oregon walks through the rest in plain English.

Meet Your Dallas Family-Law Team

Stacy Regele, founding attorney, earned her J.D. from Willamette University College of Law in 2016 and was admitted to the Oregon Bar that same year. She has practiced family law exclusively ever since. Oregon Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 — six consecutive years. Avvo Rating 9.1 (“Superb”) with the Client’s Choice Award.

“Stacy took a very stressful and certainly unfamiliar situation and explained every step in a comforting way. In the end, I walked away with everything I was asking for.” — Chris, divorce and custody client (May 2021)

Joseph “Joey” Crouch joined the firm after earning his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2022 and spending two years as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Josephine H. Mooney of the Oregon Court of Appeals. That appellate work gives him a deep feel for how Oregon family-law statutes actually get interpreted — useful when a Polk County case raises an unusual legal question. Joey leads our estate planning, prenuptial and postnuptial agreement, and appeals practice.

Jason Bowen, our paralegal, joined the firm in 2021 with a B.S. in Legal Studies from Pioneer Pacific College. He’s likely the first person you’ll hear from after you call.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do Dallas residents file for divorce?

At the Polk County Courthouse, 850 Main Street, Dallas, OR 97338. That’s the same courthouse used by every Polk County resident — West Salem, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City, Grand Ronde, and Rickreall.

How long does someone have to live in Oregon before they can file?

Oregon requires six months of in-state residency for at least one spouse before a divorce can be filed. There’s no separate Polk County residency rule beyond that.

My spouse lives in West Salem. Do we file in Salem or Dallas?

Dallas, because West Salem is in Polk County. This trips a lot of clients up — West Salem has a Salem zip code but sits across the Willamette River in Polk County. The Polk County Courthouse on Main Street in Dallas is where your case will be heard.

How long does a Polk County divorce take?

A truly uncontested divorce — both spouses on the same page, no kids or simple parenting plan, signed agreement — can be done in about 90 days from filing. Most contested cases take six to twelve months. A complicated custody trial with a custody evaluator can run longer.

What does a divorce cost?

The filing fee is several hundred dollars. Beyond that, the cost is almost entirely about how much the two sides fight. We’ll give you an honest estimate at the consult — not a sales pitch.

Are there judges in Polk County who specialize in family law?

The Polk County bench is small, which means judges hear a mix of case types, not strictly family law. The advantage is that the local judges know the local bar. Knowing which judge tends to handle parenting-time disputes a certain way is real information — and a reason to hire someone who actually shows up in the Dallas courthouse, not just the Salem one.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation

Talk to Regele Law before you make a decision you can’t undo. Schedule a confidential consultation at 503-396-4996 or request one online. We’ll listen, explain your options in plain English, and tell you honestly whether you need us, whether you need someone else, or whether you don’t need a lawyer at all.