SALEM — Five months before Measure 57, the voter-approved drug and property crime sentencing law, is scheduled to be put on hold, some district attorneys in Deschutes County and elsewhere are already starting to phase it out.

The prosecutors’ intent is to keep the courts running smoothly. For many accused identity thieves, burglars and car-prowlers, the upshot will be that plea deals could lead to significantly reduced sentences, as if Measure 57 has already ceased being the law of Oregon.

The measure was approved by voters last November and went into effect a month later. Under the measure, a repeat identity thief who’d earlier faced a 13-month stint in prison could face a 20-month sentence instead.

But in June, to close a $4 billion budget gap, lawmakers passed a new law, House Bill 3508. It said Measure 57 would be put on hold for 18 months, starting Feb. 15, to cut prison costs.

Prosecutors, though, say HB 3508 was written with a glitch that is already having an effect, one that has the potential to create a logjam in the courts.

Normally, sentencing laws go into effect based on the date a crime is committed. However, HB 3508 uses the date a defendant is sentenced, saying that Measure 57 will not apply to sentencing that takes place starting Feb. 15.

That, prosecutors say, means that if an offender committed a crime in July but can persuade a judge to delay the sentencing until Feb. 15, the offender will be facing significantly less time in prison.

“I’ve had conversations with one or two defense attorneys that say they’re going to try and set over their cases until after the 15th for sentencing,” said Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan.

He added that he’s already seen some delays and expects the practice to become more common in the coming months. He doesn’t want it to start clogging up the courts as cases get held over again and again. Since last month, he’s been asking his deputy prosecutors to use the sentencing guidelines that were in effect prior to Measure 57 as a benchmark for plea agreements with defendants.

“I can’t afford to let the courts get backlogged and piled up with cases,” Dugan said.

Prosecutors in Multnomah County intend to follow suit on Oct. 1 to prevent what Gary Meabe calls “chaos” and “gamesmanship.”

Meabe, a Multnomah senior deputy district attorney, said that because of the change, an accused burglar who was normally in line for an 18-month sentence could see months shaved off his or her plea offer.

“In some cases, that will mean (a) lesser number of months in prison and in some cases it will include some months of probation and no prison,” he said.

Of course, to get a case delayed or set over, a defense lawyer has to provide a reason to a judge — typically overwork or a scheduling conflict.

Jacques DeKalb, a Bend defense lawyer, doesn’t think a judge would grant such a request if the reason offered was to get a lighter sentence.

In other words, lawyers would have to lie to the judge in order to secure a delay, he said.

“The lawyers in my office have talked amongst ourselves about it,” he said. “We’re not much in favor of delaying cases.”

All the gyrations in enforcing and not enforcing Measure 57 could take yet another turn in February.

When they voted in June to suspend the law, lawmakers left the door open to changing their mind in February before the 18-month suspension goes into effect.

In other words, just as it started being phased out sooner than expected, Measure 57 could be back sooner than expected, too.