Richard Devlin began his service in the Oregon Legislature after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. He served three terms in the House before his election to the Oregon Senate in 2002. At the end of the 2007 legislative session, Sen. Devlin was elected Senate Majority Leader. During the 2007-2008 interim, he served as chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Appointments and was also a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor.Currently he is chair of the Senate Rules and Executive Appointment Committee and a member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education.

Sen.Devlin has extensive experience with budget issues and has served on the Joint Ways and Means Committee for several sessions. In 2005, he chaired the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education. In 2007, he chaired the Subcommittee on Natural Resources; served as vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Education; and served as a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Construction and Bonding.

Sen. Devlin also serves on numerous boards and commissions including the BEST Board, the National Performance Management Advisory Commission, and is the past chair of the NCSL Budget and Revenue Committee.

Sen. Devlin is a former member of the Metro Council, the Tualatin City Council, and the Tualatin Parks Advisory Committee. During his two terms on the Metro Council, Sen. Devlin chaired regional committees on green space conservation, intergovernmental relations, land use, transportation, and water issues.

Sen. Devlin was born in Eugene and earned his Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice from Portland State University and his Master of Arts in management from Pepperdine University. Sen. Devlin’s occupational background is in adult and juvenile corrections and civil and criminal investigations, and he served in the United States Marine Corps. He resides in Tualatin with his wife Eliza. They have two children.