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Education, Advocacy and Activism

Free training, tools and resources for journalists, advocates, activists and campaigns, with a focus on Idaho transparency, civic data and liberty.

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⚖️ Training: Open Government

3 learning modules. This page updates itself when items move between sections.

Idaho's open meeting and public records laws, and tools that put them to work. The Open-Meetings Compliance Tracker checks a meeting against Idaho Code 74-201 to 74-208, and the Public Records Letter Generator writes the request, the follow-up and the petition for review. The two modules read both laws section by section with real Idaho cases.

In this section
  1. Public Records Requests in Idaho: How to Ask, What You Can Get, and What to Do When Told No Learning Module
  2. Idaho Open Meeting Law in Depth Learning Module
  3. Researching Court Records in Idaho and Federal Systems Learning Module

🗂️ Public Records Requests in Idaho: How to Ask, What You Can Get, and What to Do When Told No Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

A full guide to the Idaho Public Records Act: who must answer, how to write a request that works, deadlines, fees and waivers, exemptions and redactions, emails and texts, counties, cities, schools, sheriffs and state agencies, and how to appeal a denial in district court. With sample language, a tracking system, the federal FOIA compared, and real Idaho cases. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. What the Idaho Public Records Act Covers 20 min
    The Idaho Public Records Act in Title 74, Chapter 1: where it came from, the presumption that records are open, the definitions that decide most disputes, why format does not matter, which bodies must answer and which follow other rules, and the 'any person' rule with its few exceptions.
  2. Who Holds What: A Map of Idaho's Records 20 min
    Where public records actually live in Idaho: county offices, cities, school districts, special districts, urban renewal agencies, state agencies and universities, which office holds which common record, how student and school personnel files are treated, and how retention schedules tell you whether a record still exists.
  3. Writing a Request That Works 22 min
    How to write an Idaho public records request that gets a complete answer: what 74-102(4) and 74-103(1) require, describing records so a custodian can find them, date ranges and email search terms, electronic and native formats, inspection versus copies, asking for a fee estimate, and four complete sample letters.
  4. Deadlines and Extensions: The Response Clock 20 min
    How the Idaho response clock works after the 2024 and 2025 amendments to Idaho Code 74-103: 3 and 10 working days for residents, 21 and 35 days for nonresidents, written extension notices, conversion delays, deemed denials, counting days and holidays, and how to follow up and document.
  5. Fees and Fee Waivers 21 min
    What Idaho agencies may and may not charge under Idaho Code 74-102(10) to (12): the free first two hours and first 100 pages for residents, labor at the lowest qualified rate, attorney redaction rates, electronic and conversion costs, separate nonresident fees since 2025, itemized statements, deposits, aggregation, and the three-part public interest fee waiver.
  6. Exemptions and Redactions 24 min
    How Idaho's exemptions work: the presumption of openness, the section-by-section list in Idaho Code 74-104 to 74-111, the law enforcement rule in 74-124, the duty in 74-112 to redact and release the rest, what is public about public employees under 74-106(1), the privacy definition in 74-101(17), the 2026 decedent-image exemption, and the Idaho cases that read exemptions narrowly.
  7. Email, Texts and Digital Records 24 min
    Why Idaho's format-neutral definition of public record reaches email, text messages, chat, social media, video and data; what the Cowles Publishing (2007) case and the AG manual say about officials' messages; retention rules for county and city records, body camera video under Idaho Code 31-871, and legislators; and how to request email, texts, video and data exports that agencies can actually find.
  8. Sheriffs, Police and Courts: Incident Reports, Video, Jail Records and Court Files 30 min
    How the investigatory records exemption in Idaho Code 74-124 really works, the arrest and incident facts that are never secret, what to expect for 911 calls, video, use-of-force and personnel records, how prosecutor files are treated, and why court records follow Idaho Court Administrative Rule 32 instead.
  9. Denials, Appeals and Court: What a Lawful No Looks Like and What to Do Next 32 min
    What Idaho Code 74-103 requires in a written denial, how deemed denials work, how to ask an agency to reconsider, how a petition under 74-115 moves through district court in as little as 28 days, who pays fees under 74-116 and 74-124(4), the $1,000 bad-faith penalty in 74-117, and what eight Idaho appellate decisions teach.
  10. Federal FOIA, Tracking Your Requests and the Big Picture 32 min
    How the federal Freedom of Information Act differs from Idaho's law for records held by the BLM, Forest Service, Department of Energy and other federal offices in Idaho; how to run a request log that keeps every deadline; how to use the Attorney General's July 2026 Public Records Law Manual; the mistakes that sink requests; and the federal FOIA numbers for fiscal year 2025.
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Quote Verification Last Ran (October 27, 2026)

Open Public Records Requests in Idaho: How to Ask, What You Can Get, and What to Do When Told No ↗

🚪 Idaho Open Meeting Law in Depth Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Read Idaho Code 74-201 through 74-208 section by section: which boards are covered, what counts as a meeting, the notice, agenda, executive session, minutes and recording rules, and how to document a suspected violation and push it through the cure process or to a prosecutor. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 9 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. Known Idaho Open Meeting Law Violations
  2. Who the Law Covers 14 min
    Use the definitions in Idaho Code 74-202 to decide whether a board, committee or task force has to meet in the open, and spot the handful of bodies the law leaves out.
  3. What Counts as a Meeting 15 min
    Work out when a gathering, phone call, email chain or site visit becomes a meeting under 74-202, using the definitions of decision, deliberation and quorum.
  4. Notice, Agendas and Action Items 16 min
    Check any meeting against the clocks and agenda rules in 74-204: five days and 48 hours for regular meetings, 24 hours for special ones, real emergencies, action items, consent agendas and late amendments.
  5. Executive Sessions, Subsection by Subsection 17 min
    Read every purpose in 74-206(1), the two-thirds roll call and citation rules, the ban on final action, and the 2024 Idaho Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the trade-and-commerce exception.
  6. Minutes, Votes and the Right to Record 15 min
    Know what 74-205 requires in minutes, how long minutes and recordings are kept, why secret ballots are banned, and how the 2026 recording right in 74-203(6) works.
  7. Public Comment Versus Public Hearings 14 min
    Learn why the open meeting law guarantees the right to attend but not to speak, and which Idaho statutes do require hearings or comment: budgets, fee increases, land use and school boards.
  8. Remote and Electronic Meetings 13 min
    Apply 74-203(5) to phone, video and hybrid meetings: who must be physically present, what the public must be able to hear, how votes work remotely, and where electronic deliberation crosses the line.
  9. Violations, Cures, Penalties and Key Cases 18 min
    Learn what 74-208 does when a board breaks the law: void actions, the 14-plus-14-day cure, $250, $1,500 and $2,500 penalties, who enforces, private suits and their deadlines, and the Idaho cases that shape all of it.
  10. Documenting and Reporting a Suspected Violation 18 min
    Follow a step-by-step method to preserve evidence, get the records, check them in the Open-Meetings Compliance Tracker, send a 74-208(7) notice, track the deadlines and describe the finding fairly.
moduleissuesopen government

Quote Verification Last Ran (October 27, 2026)

Open Idaho Open Meeting Law in Depth ↗

📘 Researching Court Records in Idaho and Federal Systems Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

How to find, read and fairly use court records in Idaho's state courts and the federal courts: the iCourt portal, Idaho's court records access rule, dockets, criminal and civil files, sealed and exempt records, PACER and RECAP, and appellate opinions. Step-by-step searches, what each document means, and the mistakes that trip up residents, advocates and reporters. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. How Courts and Court Records Work in Idaho 24 min
    Idaho's unified court system from the magistrate division to the Supreme Court, the seven judicial districts, which cases go where, what counts as a court record, who keeps it, how the federal courts in Idaho fit alongside the state courts, and the constitutional and common-law reasons court records are open.
  2. Searching Idaho's iCourt Portal 24 min
    How Idaho moved all 44 counties onto one Odyssey case system, what the public iCourt Portal shows and leaves out, how to search by name, case number and hearing date, how to get documents and certified copies from the clerk, and the related tools: Cases of Interest, Idaho Court Data, compiled data requests, File and Serve and Guide and File.
  3. Idaho's Court Records Rule: I.C.A.R. 32 28 min
    Idaho Court Administrative Rule 32 section by section: its purpose, what it opens, the 32 categories of exempt records, bulk and compiled data, redaction and sealing orders, shielded criminal and eviction records, how to request records, the three and ten working day deadlines, appeals of denials, fees, the rule's relationship to the Public Records Act, and presentence report confidentiality under Idaho Criminal Rul…
  4. Reading a Docket 27 min
    How to read an Idaho register of actions and a federal CM/ECF docket sheet: what each part of a case number means, party roles, events, hearings, minute entries, orders, judgments and dispositions, the Latin and abbreviations clerks use, what pleadings, motions, orders and judgments are, and how to tell from the docket what actually happened, with a worked example translated line by line.
  5. Criminal Case Records 24 min
    The paper trail of an Idaho criminal case from citation or arrest to judgment and appeal, what each document is, which pieces are public and which are not, withheld judgments, Idaho State Police criminal history checks, expungement and the 2023 shielding law, the sex offender registry, and how to describe a criminal case accurately.
  6. Civil, Small Claims, Family and Probate Records 24 min
    What a civil case file holds and what it leaves out, Idaho's $15,000 small claims limit, eviction cases and the 2025 shielding rule, debt collection and default judgments, how judgments become liens with the county recorder, name changes, protection orders, family cases, probate, and guardianship, with the companion records that fill the gaps.
  7. Sealed, Exempt and Juvenile Records 25 min
    The difference between exempt, sealed, shielded and redacted court records in Idaho; juvenile corrections and child protection records; adoption, termination, mental health and other closed proceedings; grand jury secrecy and discovery protective orders; victim privacy; federal and state redaction rules; how to tell sealed from simply offline; how the public asks a court to open a record; and the ethics of naming mi…
  8. Federal Court Records: PACER, CM/ECF and RECAP 32 min
    How to find and read federal court records from Idaho's U.S. District Court, Bankruptcy Court, the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court: PACER accounts, the PACER Case Locator, what PACER costs now and after the January 1, 2027 increase, fee exemptions, free opinions, bankruptcy filings and 341 meetings, sealed federal filings, and the free RECAP Archive on CourtListener.
  9. Appellate Opinions and Free Legal Research 32 min
    How appeals move through the Idaho Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, where Idaho, Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court opinions are posted, which opinions count as precedent, how to watch an oral argument, how to read an opinion and a citation, and how to check whether a case is still good law using free tools.
  10. Using Court Records Fairly, and the Mistakes That Trip People Up 34 min
    How to use court records accurately and fairly: confirming identity, using the right words for arrests, charges and convictions, following cases to the end, updating old stories, how the fair report privilege and Idaho cases protect accurate reports, naming minors and victims, the Fair Credit Reporting Act's limits on background checks, the errors in people-search sites, a table of 15 common mistakes, a final checkl…
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Quote Verification Last Ran (October 27, 2026)

Open Researching Court Records in Idaho and Federal Systems ↗

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