ORS 201.020: Benton County.

(1) The boundary of Benton County is as follows: (a) Commencing in the middle of the Willamette River, at the southeast corner of Polk County; thence running south along the main channel of the river to the middle fork of the river; thence up the middle fork to its source; thence due south to the forty-second parallel of north latitude; thence west along the forty-second parallel to the Pacific Ocean; thence north along the coast of the Pacific Ocean to the southern boundary of Polk County. (b) Beginning at a point on the Benton and Lincoln County boundary line which is the northeast corner of section 13, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence west a distance of approximately one mile to the section corner common to sections 11, 12, 13 and 14, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence south a distance of approximately one mile to the section corner common to sections 13, 14, 23 and 24, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence west a distance of approximately four miles to the section corner common to sections 17, 18, 19 and 20, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence south a distance of approximately two miles to the section corner common to sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence east a distance of approximately two miles to the section corner common to sections 27, 28, 33 and 34, township 14 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence south a distance of approximately two and one-fourth miles to the Lane and Lincoln County boundary along the one-sixteenth section line in sections 10, 11 and 12 in township 15 south, range 9 west, Willamette Meridian; thence east to the boundary lines corner common to Lincoln, Benton and Lane Counties; thence north a distance of approximately five and one-fourth miles to the place of beginning. (c) The southern boundary of Benton County commences in the middle of the channel of the Willamette River at a point where a line running west will pass three miles south of the ford on Long Tom (near Rowland Hinton’s field); thence running due west to a monument set on the present county boundary between Lane and Benton Counties, which is 14.96 chains north of the quarter section corner between sections 11 and 12, township 15 south, range 6 west, Willamette Meridian; thence south to the quarter corner between sections 11 and 12, township 15 south, range 6 west; thence westerly on the quarter line through townships 6 and 7 west, to the quarter corner on the west side of section 7, township 15 south, range 7 west; thence south to the quarter corner on the east side of section 12, township 15 south, range 8 west; thence westerly on the quarter section line through township 15 south, range 8 west, to the west line of section 7 of such township. (2) When the Willamette River serves as the boundary between Linn and Benton Counties in subsection (1)(a) and (c) of this section, a reference to the river refers to the middle of the Willamette River as it existed on January 8, 2003, and may be further identified using coordinates and other location information determined by the affected county surveyors and filed by the appropriate counties with the appropriate county assessors and the Department of Revenue under ORS 308.225. [Amended by 2003 c.622 §1]