Biography
Jon Bial has served for over a decade at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), a member-supported, independent, nonprofit, public media organization serving communities across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. As a member of the in-house counsel team at OPB, Jon is involved in a variety of transactional and litigation legal work, including public records request petitions under Oregon Public Records Law (OPRL). OPB is the only media organization in Oregon with in-house counsel doing open records work. OPB has had several successes in under the ORPL during Jon’s tenure; assisting OPB’s criminal justice and legal affairs reporter Conrad Wilson in making public records requests that informed coverage on why the Washington County District Attorney had declined to prosecute Oregon prison nurse Tony Klein, culminating in the federal prosecution and 2023 conviction of Klein for sexual assault; testifying before the Oregon Sunshine Committee on Oregon Public Records Law to influence future legislation and development of the law to bolster government transparency; and assisting OPB’s Central Oregon bureau chief Emily Cureton Cook to obtain public records from the Governor’s Office and 19 states DEQs regarding the Knife River’s pollution of rural Oregon’s water sources. More recently Jon led the team that successfully defended OPB from Deschutes County Sheriff’s OPLR lawsuit and the City of Portland’s OPLR lawsuit.
Prior to joining OPB in 2014, Jon managed and provided legal counsel to small businesses as a sole practitioner; was the general manager of a rod manufacturer, a filmmaker of fishing videos, and a tax associate at Tonkin Torp LLP. Jon received a BS in Speech Communication at Oregon State University and a JD from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions
Oregon Records Transparency Practicum - Fall 2025