InIdaho, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Idaho's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Idaho's state court system.

Judicial selection process

See also:Judicial selection in Idaho andIdaho judicial elections

Selection of state court judges in Idaho occurs primarily throughnonpartisan elections. All judges (with the exception of magistrates, who are appointed to the bench by a magistrate commission) participate in elections wherein they cannot be nominated or endorsed by any political party.

Thefive justices of theIdaho Supreme Court and thefour judges of theIdaho Court of Appeals are elected innonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms, after which they must seek re-election if they wish to retain their seat. The42 judges of theIdaho District Courts are elected innonpartisan elections to four-year terms.

To read more about judicial elections in Idaho,click here.

Federal courts

Thefederal district court in Idaho is theUnited States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Appeals go to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Active judges

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 1
• Republican appointed: 1

Judicial selection

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by thepresident of the United States and confirmed by theUnited States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, clickhere.

Bankruptcy courts

There is onefederal bankruptcy court in Idaho. This court has subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy court in Idaho is:

• United States bankruptcy court, District of Idaho

State supreme court

See also:Idaho Supreme Court

Founded in 1890, theIdaho Supreme Court is the state'scourt of last resort and has five judgeships. The currentchief of the court isG. Richard Bevan.

As of January 2023, four judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor and one judge was initially selected in an election.

The court meets in the Supreme Court Building inBoise, Idaho.^[1]

In Idaho, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges,click here.

The 1890Idaho Constitution gives theIdaho Supreme Court the authority to hear appeals of the final rulings of the district courts, as well as from orders from the Public Utilities Commission, Industrial Accident Commission and the Idaho Industrial Commission. The court has original jurisdiction to hear cases against the state and to issue writs of review, mandamus, prohibition, and habeas corpus, and all writs necessary for complete exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. Parties may make a further appeal to the supreme court from theIdaho Court of Appeals, or the court may choose to review a decision of the court of appeals.^[2]

The table below lists the current judges of theIdaho Supreme Court and the appointing governor.

State court of appeals

See also:Idaho Court of Appeals

TheIdaho Court of Appeals was established in 1980 as theintermediate appellate court inIdaho.^[3] The court hears cases assigned to it by theIdaho Supreme Court, except capital murder convictions and appeals from the Public Utilities Commission or Industrial Commission which must be heard by theIdaho Supreme Court. Appellants may petition theIdaho Supreme Court to review an Idaho Court of Appeals decision, but theIdaho Supreme Court is not required to grant such a petition.

The Idaho Court of Appeals has three judges and a chief judge who are elected innonpartisan elections to renewable six-year terms. Cases are heard by three-judge panels.^[4]

The following judges sit on the court:

Trial courts

District courts

See also:Idaho District Courts

TheIdaho District Courts hear criminal cases, civil cases where the amount involved is more than $10,000, and appeals from magistrate court decisions. They may also hear domestic relation cases, and post-conviction relief actions where an inmate is challenging their conviction or incarceration.^[4]

Magistrate division

See also:Idaho Magistrate Division

TheIdaho Magistrate Division is a division of theIdaho District Courts. Magistrate judges hear misdemeanor criminal cases and civil actions where the amount in dispute does not exceed $10,000. Magistrate judges may issue arrest warrants and search warrants, they may handlehabeas corpus proceedings, along with domestic relation, juvenile, and probate cases. Magistrate judges may hold preliminary hearings in criminal cases to determine whether or not to send the case to the district court for a jury trial for a felony offense.^[4][5] Decisions of the Magistrate Division are appealed to the district courts.

In other states

See also

• Judicial selection in Idaho
• Idaho judicial elections

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Idaho Supreme Court

Footnotes

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