Starting in July, district attorneys in all 36 Oregon counties will be charged with making sure that most grand jury proceedings are recorded. Those recordings will be available, not to the general public, but to defendants whose lawyers will be able to use them in court. That’s good news.

For now, only Deschutes, Jackson and Multnomah counties are recording grand jury proceedings, and district attorneys report few problems with the process. Implementing the new system hasn’t been a hassle.

During grand jury hearings, prosecutors bring in witnesses to testify before jurors behind closed doors. If five out of seven jurors find probable cause, the case moves forward with an indictment.

The alternative is a preliminary hearing. In that case, defense attorneys also get involved, but it’s a judge who rules on probable cause.

Some district attorneys worried a new recording requirement would force more cases to preliminary hearings. That hasn’t happened. In fact, neither district attorney in Deschutes or Jackson counties has sent cases to a preliminary hearing, and Multnomah County dropped the practice in September, according to Willamette Week.

Perhaps best, at least from a public standpoint, recording proceedings and giving them to defense lawyers may make negotiating outcomes simpler, which in turn can save money. The process allows defendants and their lawyers to judge how strong a district attorney’s case is.

Oregon is one of only a dozen states that until now did not require grand jury recordings. There were fears, particularly from some district attorneys and victims’ rights advocates, that the change would be expensive and damaging to victims. The change has cost money, but it doesn’t appear victims have suffered under the system.

Money for expansion of the system is included in the state Judicial Department’s budget. Lawmakers must see that it stays there.