Sarah Roth, Division Administrator

Sarah brings a wealth of experience to her role as the Oregon Department of Justice Administrative Services Director, leading a comprehensive team overseeing Human Resources, Information Services, Operations, and the Accounting and Budget team for the Office of the Attorney General.  Throughout her distinguished career, which began in 2000, Sarah has honed her expertise in administrative service functions.  Prior to joining the Oregon Department of Justice, Sarah managed critical business services with the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Secretary of State, and the Department of Housing.

Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General

Appellate Division

Ben is the Interim Deputy Attorney General and also serves as the Solicitor General in the Oregon Department of Justice.   Before joining DOJ, Ben was the chief administrative judge and western director for the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.   He also was a member of the federal government’s senior executive service.

Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Solicitor General for the State of New York and as an appellate attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.   Ben has a B.A. magna cum laude in math and philosophy from Yale College and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as executive editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Joanne Southey, Chief Counsel

Child Advocacy and Protection

Joanne is the Chief Counsel of the Child Advocacy and Protection Division. She has been with DOJ since 2003, starting as an Assistant Attorney General in the Family Law Section of the Civil Enforcement Division (CED). She served as an Assistant Attorney in Charge and Attorney in Charge in the former Child Advocacy Section. She also served as Deputy Chief Counsel of the CED from 2012 to 2021 when she became co-Chief Counsel. Prior to coming to DOJ, Joanne was in private practice at a civil litigation firm in Portland and held a judicial clerkship at the Multnomah County Courthouse. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon and law degree from Willamette University College of Law.

Dawn Marquardt, Acting Director

Division of Child Support

Dawn is the acting division administrator of the Division of Child Support and the acting director of the Oregon Child Support Program, Oregon’s federal Title IV-D program. Dawn oversees  employees in 13 offices who provide child support services for 121,000 cases, and coordinates with 15 district attorney offices that also provide child support services under the Oregon Child Support Program. Those services include establishment of parentage; establishment, modification, and enforcement of child support orders; and local and intergovernmental work. The Oregon Child Support Program collects $319 million per year to distribute to families.

Prior to joining the Oregon DOJ in 2014, Dawn’s career included work in Wisconsin as a child support attorney with two counties. Dawn holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Jeff Howes, Acting Division Director

Jeff Howes earned his JD from University of Oregon School of Law in 1995. He worked as a Deputy District Attorney in Multnomah County from 1995-2024.  From 2008 to 2012, Jeff was assigned as the office liaison to the Portland Police Bureau Cold Case Homicide Unit – successfully prosecuting homicide cases that ranged from 12 to 40 years old. Jeff has served as an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School, served as a member of the Oregon State Bar Board of Bar Examiners for 12 years, and on a policy committee for the National Conference of Bar Examiners for 5 years.  Jeff was an editor of the 3-volume publication Criminal Law in Oregon (OSB Legal Pubs 2022). In early 2020, Jeff led the team that successfully prosecuted the case of State v. Jeremy Christian » – a vicious bias-crime spree that resulted in the deaths of two people riding a public train in 2017.  From 2012 to 2024, Jeff served as the First Assistant District Attorney in Multnomah County under District Attorneys Mike Schrunk, Rod Underhill, and Mike Schmidt.

Jeff joined the Oregon Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Division in December 2024.

Shannon Sivell, Director

Crime Victims and Survivor Services Division

Shannon Sivell is the director of the Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division (CVSSD), which provides victims of violent crime with financial assistance through the Crime Victims’ Compensation fund. CVSSD also funds community-based domestic and sexual violence service programs statewide; funds victim assistance programs in each district attorney office; and coordinates statewide crime victim rights education and human trafficking intervention. Shannon joined the Oregon DOJ in 2009 as the legislative director for the Attorney General. Prior to working for the Oregon DOJ, Shannon was counsel for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees during the 2009 Legislative Session and a Deputy District Attorney in Multnomah County. Shannon received her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Oregon.

Renee Stineman, Chief Counsel

General Counsel Division

Renee is the chief counsel of the General Counsel Division, which is responsible for providing legal services to almost all state agencies.