Module 5: Ethics, Conduct & Conflicts of Interest

The Idaho Ethics in Government Act

Idaho spreads its ethics law over four statutes, and the Ethics in Government Act is the thinnest of them. The Attorney General's Ethics in Government Manual (July 2026) names them: the Bribery and Corrupt Influence Act (Idaho Code § 18-1351 and following), the Prohibition Against Contracts with Officers Act (§ 74-501 and following), the Ethics in Government Act (§ 74-401 and following) and the Public Integrity in Elections Act (§ 74-601 and following).¹ A statute written for a particular office controls over the general ones, and § 31-807A speaks to county commissioners by name.

The Ethics in Government Act, chapter 4 of Title 74, carries the short title "Ethics in Government Act of 2015" (§ 74-401).² Section 74-402 says what it is for. Part of it reads:

"It is hereby declared that the position of a public official at all levels of government is a public trust and it is in the public interest to: ... (3) Inform citizens of the existence of personal interests which may present a conflict of interest between an official's public trust and private concerns; (4) Prevent public office from being used for personal gain contrary to the public interest; ..."

Idaho Code § 74-402 (items (1), (2), (5) and (6) omitted)

Item (3) tells you how the Act works: it informs. It covers you as an elected county official, and it covers your appointed and employed staff under a separate subsection.³ For most of you its demand is a disclosure. The Attorney General warns against stopping there: chapter 4 "does not necessarily prohibit any act," and "the action creating the conflict may be prohibited by other provisions contained within the Idaho Code."¹

Read the law as a stack. Chapter 4 asks you to speak up. Chapter 5 and § 31-807A limit the contracts you may touch. Chapter 13 of Title 18 makes some conduct a crime. Meeting the top layer never excuses a breach of the one beneath it. The manual calls these laws "a ground floor," and says that if you need a "loophole" to defend your conduct, "your conduct is likely unethical."⁴

Conflicts of Interest: Legal Definition and Scope

The definitions sit in § 74-403. A "conflict of interest" is "any official action or any decision or recommendation by a person acting in a capacity as a public official, the effect of which would be to the private pecuniary benefit of the person or a member of the person's household, or a business with which the person or a member of the person's household is associated."⁵

"Official action" includes policy "nonaction" by the body (§ 74-403(1)), so do not assume that letting an item die avoids the rule. "Members of a household" means "the spouse and dependent children of the public official and/or persons whom the public official is legally obligated to support" (§ 74-403(7)). Your parents, siblings and in-laws are not automatically in it, though §§ 18-1359 and 18-1361 use a second-degree test by blood or marriage. A brother's company may escape chapter 4 and still trigger chapter 5 or Title 18. A business is one "with which a public official is associated" if you or a household member is a director, officer, owner, partner, employee or holder of stock over $5,000 in fair market value (§ 74-403(3)).

Four situations are excluded even though you benefit: an interest the law requires you to hold for the office; an action that affects you to the same degree as a class made up of your industry or occupation; a professional interest affected to the same degree as a substantial group in your trade; and a vote on "any revenue measure, any appropriation measure or any measure imposing a tax" when similarly situated members of the public are affected "in a substantially similar manner and degree" (§ 74-403(4)(a) to (d)).⁶ That last exclusion covers the usual budget and levy votes, where every taxpayer is affected alike.

Disclosure vs. Recusal: What Idaho Requires of You

For an elected county official, the rule is in § 74-404(4):

"If he is an elected public official of a county or municipality, he shall disclose the nature of a potential conflict of interest prior to acting on a matter and shall be subject to the rules of the body of which he/she is a member and take all action required by the rules prior to acting on the matter."

Idaho Code § 74-404(4)

Subsection (2) makes an elected state official file a written statement with the Secretary of State. That filing is not yours. Subsection (5) makes appointed and employed county officials give a written statement to their appointing authority, which may be you or your board.⁸

Can you still vote?

Yes, unless you ask not to. Section 74-404 says "[d]isclosure of a conflict does not affect an elected public official's authority to be counted for purposes of determining a quorum and to debate and to vote on the matter, unless the public official requests to be excused from debate and voting at his or her discretion."⁹ Subsection (4) adds something worth using: if you ask to be excused and the board does not excuse you, "such failure to excuse shall exempt that member from any civil or criminal liability related to that particular issue." So disclose, ask to be excused, and see that the minutes show both your request and the board's answer.

Legal advice as a safe harbor

You may ask the county's attorney, the Attorney General or independent counsel whether a conflict exists. If the advice is that none does, you "may proceed and shall not be subject to the prohibitions of this chapter." If it is that one may exist, you disclose and may then act on the advice.¹⁰ The safe harbor covers chapter 4 only. It does not, the manual says, "permit the public official to engage in acts prohibited by other provisions of the Idaho Code."

If you skip it

Section 74-404 bars official action on a matter where you have a conflict and "failed to disclose." Under § 74-406 an official who "intentionally fails to disclose a conflict of interest" commits a civil offense with a fine "not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500)." The penalty does not apply where your government has put an ethics board into operation under § 74-404(6), it does not limit your board's power to discipline its members, and it does not "preclude prosecution and conviction for any criminal violation that may have been committed."¹¹ The chapter requires no form and says nothing about writing or minutes, only disclosure "prior to acting." The statute does not demand a paper trail. You will want one.

Contracts with Interested Officials

Chapter 5 of Title 74 is short and blunt. Section 74-501 reads in full:

"Members of the legislature, state, county, city, district and precinct officers, must not be interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members."

Idaho Code § 74-501

That sentence has no bidding step, no disclosure step and no finding that the price is fair. It is a flat prohibition, and "interested" is not defined in the chapter.¹³

Remote interests and county property

The relief valve is § 74-502. An officer is not "interested" if the interest is only remote, it is disclosed to the board and "noted in the official minutes or similar records prior to the formation of the contract," and the board approves the contract in good faith "without counting the vote or votes of the officer having the remote interest." Remote means, for example, a nonsalaried officer of a nonprofit or an employee of a contracting party paid entirely by fixed wages or salary.¹⁴ Even then, you "shall not influence or attempt to influence" any other officer to enter the contract (§ 74-502(2)).

County officers also "must not be purchasers at any sale nor vendors at any purchase made by them in their official capacity" (§ 74-503). Section 31-807A, written for your board, adds that no member "must be interested, directly or indirectly, in property purchased for the use of the county, nor in any purchase or sale of property belonging to the county, nor in any contract made by the board or other person on behalf of the county." (The full text goes on to list public buildings, roads and bridges "or other purposes unless otherwise authorized by law.") Routing a contract through a middleman does not obviously take it outside those words, and I found no decision on the point.¹²

Title 18 covers the same ground

A public servant shall not "be interested in any contract made by him in his official capacity, or by any body or board of which he is a member, except as provided in section 18-1361" (§ 18-1359(1)(d)). Section 18-1361 is narrow. It applies only where fewer than three suppliers operate within fifteen miles. Then the public servant or a relative may contract with the board for disaster response, or if four conditions are "strictly observed": the low bid in a competitive bid; no part in preparing specifications and, for the public servant, none in voting; written disclosure to all board members of the interest and intent to bid; and compliance with bidding and solicitation law.¹⁵ The Attorney General calls this a "rare circumstances" route. I found nothing saying that meeting § 18-1361 also clears § 74-501, so get your prosecutor's written view first. The unpaid-board exceptions in §§ 74-405, 74-510 and 18-1361A are written for members who take no salary or fee, so do not assume they reach you.¹⁶

Consequences

A contract made in violation of chapter 5 "may be avoided at the instance of any party except the officer interested therein" (§ 74-504). It is voidable, not void from the start. Any party to the contract other than you can avoid it. You cannot.¹⁷ The violation is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000, up to a year in the county jail, or both (§ 74-509).

The oldest Idaho cases come from school boards. In Independent School District No. 5 v. Collins, 15 Idaho 535, 98 P. 857 (1908), a trustee owned three-fourths of a hardware company that sold goods to his district. A statute made such contracts "absolutely void," and the Idaho Supreme Court held that money paid on one could be recovered by the district or by any taxpayer, calling the rule "a salutary one to prevent abuses by trustees."¹⁸ In Nuckols v. Lyle, 8 Idaho 589, 70 P. 401 (1902), the Court held a trustee interested in his wife's teaching contract because her earnings were community property he managed.¹⁹ Both construed statutes that declared such contracts "void." Section 74-504 says "avoided," and I found no Idaho appellate decision construing §§ 74-501 to 74-504 or § 31-807A. Take the cases as the Court's attitude, not as a rule for your contracts.

An officer who allows the accounts of other county officers must first "require each of such officers to make and file with him an affidavit that he has not violated any of the provisions of this chapter" (§ 74-506). Sign only what is true.²⁰

Gifts, Hospitality & Compensation

The gift rules that bind a commissioner are in the Bribery and Corrupt Influence Act, Title 18, chapter 13, not in the Ethics in Government Act. They are narrower than most people assume, and the penalties are heavier. Subsection (2) of § 18-1356 fits you exactly:

"No public servant having any discretionary function to perform in connection with contracts, purchases, payments, claims or other pecuniary transactions of the government shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit from any person known to be interested in or likely to become interested in any such contract, purchase, payment, claim or transaction."

Idaho Code § 18-1356(2)

Subsection (1) bars the same from public servants in an agency "exercising regulatory functions" when the giver is subject to that regulation. A board that decides land use permits may fit, and I would plan as if it does. Subsection (6) bars anyone from knowingly offering or conferring a prohibited benefit.²¹ A "pecuniary benefit" is a benefit "in the form of money, property or commercial interests, the primary significance of which is economic gain" (§ 18-1351(7)). The safe reading is that a meal, a ticket, a trip or a loan counts.

What the statute allows

Section 18-1356(5) excludes fees the law prescribes, benefits for which you give "legitimate consideration," gifts "conferred on account of kinship or other personal, professional or business relationship independent of the official status of the receiver," lobbying benefits disclosed under chapter 7 of Title 74, and "trivial benefits not to exceed a value of fifty dollars ($50.00) incidental to personal, professional or business contacts and involving no substantial risk of undermining official impartiality."²² The $50 figure is a ceiling, not a safe harbor. A $40 lunch from a contractor whose bid is on your next agenda still carries that risk.

The statute has no exception for a gift disclosed at a meeting, or for a benefit that is available to a whole class of officials. The Attorney General's manual found no violation in a chamber of commerce tour offered to every legislator, or in a vendor-paid demonstration trip, noting of the second that "[t]he trip does not relate to any upcoming bidding or contracting process in which the company stands to gain or lose."²³ Those were opinions about legislators on facts without a pending bid. Yours will have one.

After the vote, and when a gift becomes a bribe

Thanks arrive late. It is a misdemeanor to accept "any pecuniary benefit as compensation for having as public servant, given a decision, opinion, recommendation or vote favorable to another" (§ 18-1354), and the giver is equally guilty. A thank-you gift after the contract is signed is the thing the statute describes. Bribery is a felony: soliciting or accepting "any pecuniary benefit as consideration for the recipient's decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or other exercise of discretion as a public servant" (§ 18-1352(1)). Section 18-1309 is written for your office: a commissioner who receives or offers to receive a bribe, or a person who gives one to a commissioner to corruptly influence a pending matter, faces one to fourteen years in the state prison.²⁴

The Public Trust: Duty, Family and Life After Office

Section 74-402 begins by declaring that "the position of a public official at all levels of government is a public trust." The Attorney General's manual reads weight into the word: "Public officials, by the trusteeship given them by the electorate, are held to a higher ethical standard."²⁵ That is guidance, not a holding. I found no Idaho appellate decision working out a general fiduciary duty for county commissioners, so I will not describe what a court would do under that label. The Legislature did write specific remedies. Conviction of any crime defined in chapter 13 of Title 18 forfeits the office (§ 18-1307). A violator "may be required to forfeit his office and may be ordered to make restitution" (§ 18-1360). And a prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General may sue "to enjoin a violation ... and to require the public servant to make restitution," with costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party (§ 18-1362).²⁶

Family and hiring

Subsection (1)(e) of § 18-1359 bars appointing, or voting to appoint, a relative "by blood or marriage within the second degree" to a paid position. Subsection (4) is written for you: "No person related to a county commissioner by blood or marriage within the second degree shall be appointed to any clerkship, office, position, employment or duty with the commissioner's county when the salary, wages, pay or compensation of such appointee or employee is to be paid out of public funds." An employee who held the position before the relative was elected keeps it under subsection (5)(a). The manual reads that to protect a county employee whose spouse is later elected, while noting possible tension with § 74-501.²⁷ Ask your prosecutor to count the degree of any particular relative before the offer is made.

Misuse of Office & Criminal Liability

Chapter 13 of Title 18 contains no offense called "official misconduct." The conduct that matters to a commissioner is spread across §§ 18-1352 to 18-1359.²⁹

Using the position

Section 18-1359, "Using public position for personal gain," bars a public servant from using "public funds or property to obtain a pecuniary benefit for himself" without "the specific authorization of the governmental entity," and from using or disclosing confidential information "with the intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit for himself or any other person or entity in whose welfare he is interested or with the intent to harm the governmental entity for which he serves" (§ 18-1359(1)(a) to (c)). Closed-session information about a planned land purchase would be "confidential information" under § 18-1351(2). "Specific authorization" means the board, in a way you can show. Whether a vote in which you take part counts as authorization for your own benefit is not settled by anything I found, and neither is how § 18-1359(6), which excludes "conduct defined by the provisions of section 74-403(4)," fits with subsection (1)(d). Ask the prosecutor.³⁰

A commissioner who tells a permit applicant that a donation to a favorite cause would help the vote is soliciting a benefit, defined to include a benefit to "any other person or entity in whose welfare he is interested" (§ 18-1351(1)). Section 18-1352(2) makes it bribery to accept a benefit "as consideration for the recipient's decision, vote, recommendation or other exercise of official discretion in a judicial or administrative proceeding." Whether a given permit vote is an "administrative proceeding" is a question for your prosecutor. Do not test it.

Penalties and who investigates

Bribery is a felony (§§ 18-1352, 18-1309). Violations of the gift and position-for-gain provisions, and of the contracts chapter, are misdemeanors with a fine up to $1,000, up to a year in the county jail, or both, plus possible forfeiture and restitution (§§ 18-1360, 74-509). Intentional failure to disclose is a civil offense up to $500 (§ 74-406). Whether a conviction affects eligibility for future office is a separate question this module does not answer.³¹

The Attorney General may investigate "any allegation of a violation of state criminal law against a county officer occupying an elective office" acting in an official capacity, and must then close the matter, "suggest training or other nonjudicial remedies," or retain it as special prosecutor (§ 31-2002). The Attorney General's website says civil matters such as open meeting and public records violations are outside that authority. The Attorney General has no exclusive jurisdiction, and where your prosecutor is conflicted a district court may appoint a special prosecutor (§ 31-2603).³²

County money and campaigns

The Public Integrity in Elections Act bars your county from spending public funds, or using public "property or resources," to "advocate for or against a candidate or a ballot measure" (§ 74-604). "Ballot measure" means a constitutional amendment, bond measure or levy measure, and "advocate" does not include "providing factual information about a ballot measure and the public entity's reason for the ballot measure stated in a factually neutral manner" (§ 74-603).³³ You keep your own rights: § 74-605 protects a public official's personal speech and campaigning "provided no public funds are used." Penalties are civil, from $250 up to $2,500 for a repeat knowing violation (§ 74-606), and a special prosecutor handles alleged violations by county commissioners. County tax-related correspondence may not carry an elected official's name or an "electioneering message," with narrow exceptions for standard letterhead and for endorsing a check (§ 74-407).³⁴

Recall Elections: The Ultimate Check on Ethical Violations

Idaho Code §§ 34-1701 through 34-1715 establishes the recall election process. Recall is the people's ultimate remedy when an elected official violates the public trust.

Who Can Be Recalled

Idaho Code § 34-1701 lists who can be recalled, "and none other." For counties that is the board of county commissioners, sheriff, treasurer, assessor, prosecuting attorney, clerk of the district court and coroner. City mayors and council members, state officers, legislators and certain special district officers are also on the list. The process does not require a criminal conviction. The petition must state the reasons for the recall in no more than 200 words (§ 34-1703).

Petition Requirements

Before circulating, proponents deliver a prospective petition signed by at least 20 electors to the county clerk, who approves it as to form. The petition then must be perfected with the required signatures within 75 days of that approval (§ 34-1704). For a county officer the requirement is registered electors of the county equal to 20% of the number of electors registered to vote at the last county general election at which the officer was elected, filed with the county clerk (§ 34-1702(3)).³⁵ No petition may be circulated until the officer has held office under the current term for at least 90 days (§ 34-1713).

Grounds for Recall

The recall chapter does not list required grounds. It requires only that the petition state reasons in 200 words or fewer, and the ballot prints those reasons beside the officer's own 200-word justification (§§ 34-1703, 34-1708). Petitions built on facts voters can check might involve:

• Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• Votes on matters where the commissioner had a personal financial interest;
• Misappropriation of county resources;
• Abuse of official power;
• Violations of the open meeting law;
• Gross negligence in fiscal management.

The Process and Election

The county clerk examines the signatures within 15 business days (§ 34-1706). If the petition is sufficient, the clerk gives written notice to the officer and the petitioner. The officer has five business days to resign. If the officer does not, a countywide special election is held on a date set by § 34-106 (§ 34-1707(2)). The ballot is headed "RECALL BALLOT" and shows the petitioners' reasons and the officer's justification, each in 200 words or fewer, followed by "FOR recalling" and "AGAINST recalling" (§ 34-1708). The officer keeps serving until the results are proclaimed (§ 34-1709). To remove the officer, a majority of the votes cast must favor recall, and the yes votes must also equal or exceed the votes cast at the last general election for that officer (§ 34-1712(3)).

If the recall passes, a vacancy exists when the results are proclaimed, and it is filled the way the law fills any other vacancy in that office (§ 34-1712(4), (5)).³⁶

Recall as Accountability

Recall is a powerful tool. A commissioner who discloses conflicts, refrains from voting on interested matters, and scrupulously avoids misusing office resources gives voters little to put in a 200-word petition. An official who treats office as a vehicle for personal gain, who votes on conflicted matters and stonewalls critics, should expect citizens to organize a recall. This is democratic accountability functioning as intended.

Related Organizations and Where to Get Help

Each URL below returned a live page when I checked it on October 13, 2026.³⁷

• Your county prosecuting attorney. Under Idaho Code § 31-2604(3) it is the prosecutor's duty "to give advice to the board of county commissioners, and other public officers of his county, when requested in all public matters arising in the conduct of the public business entrusted to the care of such officers." Section 74-404(4) names the county's attorney as a source of the advisory opinion you may act on. Ask before the vote, in writing. See The Prosecutor as Legal Advisor.
• Idaho Association of Counties (IAC). A nonprofit, nonpartisan member organization formed in 1976 and owned by Idaho's counties. Its stated mission includes encouraging "ethical behavior" and providing "education and training to assist Idaho county officials." Its affiliates page lists seven county officials' associations, including the Idaho Association of Commissioners and Clerks.
• Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP). The risk pool created by Idaho public entities for Idaho public entities. Ask your county's coverage contact how it responds to a complaint connected with your official acts, and give notice early. I did not confirm any coverage terms for ethics matters.
• Idaho Attorney General. Publishes the Ethics in Government Manual, may give you an advisory opinion under § 74-404(4), and investigates criminal conduct by county elected officials through its public corruption process. See also its opinions page.
• Idaho Secretary of State. Elected state officials file their conflict statements here under § 74-404(2). You do not. Its Sunshine portal is the public campaign finance database, and its Campaign Finance 101 page says that since 2020 campaign finance at all levels is reported there.

Practice Points for the Officeholder

Before every meeting

• Read the agenda for any person or business in which you, your household or a business you are associated with has a stake. (§ 74-403(3), (4), (7))
• If unsure, get advice from the county's attorney, the Attorney General or independent counsel first. (§ 74-404)
• Disclose before you act, in writing if possible, and ask to be excused if the interest is real. The minutes should show the disclosure, your request and the board's answer. (§ 74-404(4))

Contracts, purchases and sales

• Ask in the open whether any commissioner, relative within the second degree, or business of either has an interest in the contract or in the contractor's subcontractors. (§§ 74-501, 31-807A, 18-1359(1)(d))
• A remote interest (§ 74-502) goes in the minutes before the contract is formed. If anyone proposes the § 18-1361 route, count the conditions and get your prosecutor's written view first.
• Never buy or bid on county property the board is selling. (§§ 74-503, 31-807A)

Gifts, hiring and county resources

• Decline anything of value from a person interested in a matter before the board, and accept no thanks after the vote. (§§ 18-1356(2), 18-1354)
• Have the county pay for training and travel under a written policy. Log every invitation, including the ones you decline.
• Do not appoint, vote to appoint, or help hire a relative within the second degree to a paid county position. (§ 18-1359(1)(e), (4))
• No personal use of county property without the board's specific authorization on file, and no use of confidential information for gain. (§ 18-1359(1)(a), (c))
• No county money, time or equipment to advocate for a candidate, bond or levy. Publish facts, neutrally. (§ 74-604)

What the auditor and the board will ask

• An affidavit that you have not violated chapter 5 (§ 74-506); who disclosed what on any contract vote; and whether a relative is on the payroll.

Records and deadlines

• Keep your written disclosures, the legal advice you relied on, the minutes of any request to be excused, any board authorization for personal use of county property, and your gift log. Retention periods are set elsewhere. Ask your clerk and prosecutor for the schedule.
• Chapter 4 sets no annual filing for county officials. The duty is to disclose before you act. Campaign finance reports fall under Title 67, chapter 66, which this module does not cover.
• Recall clocks: five business days after notice to resign, 15 business days for the clerk to examine the petition, 75 days to perfect it. (§§ 34-1704, 34-1706, 34-1707)

When to call whom

• Any doubt about a vote, contract, gift, hire or county mailing: your county prosecutor, before you act, in writing.
• A question the prosecutor cannot answer or has a conflict on: the Attorney General for an advisory opinion, or a special prosecutor under § 31-2603.
• Risk and notice: ICRMP. What peers do: the Idaho Association of Counties.

Where officeholders get into trouble

• Relying on disclosure when another statute forbids the act itself.
• Treating a board vote as authority to do something personal.
• Counting a relative's firm as "not me."
• Accepting a thank-you after the contract is signed.

Sources & Further Reading

Primary Sources

• Idaho Code Title 74, chapter 4, §§ 74-401 to 74-407 (Ethics in Government Act of 2015): 74-402 policy and purpose; 74-403 definitions; 74-404 required action in conflicts; 74-406 civil penalty; 74-407 tax-related correspondence
• Idaho Code Title 74, chapter 5, §§ 74-501 to 74-511 (Prohibitions Against Contracts with Officers): 74-501 officers not to be interested in contracts; 74-502 remote interests; 74-503 sales; 74-504 voidable contracts; 74-506 affidavit of nonviolation; 74-509 violation
• Idaho Code Title 18, chapter 13, §§ 18-1351 to 18-1362 (Bribery and Corrupt Influence), with §§ 18-1307 and 18-1309: 18-1352 bribery; 18-1354 compensation for past official behavior; 18-1356 gifts to public servants; 18-1359 using public position for personal gain; 18-1360 penalties; 18-1361 self-interested contracts; 18-1362 cause of action
• Idaho Code § 31-807A (commissioners must be disinterested); § 31-2002 (Attorney General investigations of county elected officers); § 31-2604 (duties of prosecuting attorney)
• Idaho Code Title 74, chapter 6, §§ 74-601 to 74-606 (Public Integrity in Elections Act)
• Idaho Code Title 34, chapter 17, §§ 34-1701 to 34-1715 (Recall Elections)
• Independent School District No. 5 v. Collins, 15 Idaho 535, 98 P. 857 (1908); Nuckols v. Lyle, 8 Idaho 589, 70 P. 401 (1902)

Agency Guidance

• Idaho Attorney General, Idaho Ethics in Government Manual (July 2026)
• Idaho Attorney General, Public Corruption
• Idaho Association of Counties, About IAC

Related Training Modules

• Module 4: Open Meeting Law
• Module 6: Budgets & Fiscal Duty
• Conducting Public Meetings
• Authority & Powers
• The Prosecutor as Legal Advisor
• Idaho Resources & Organizations
• Issues course: Idaho Open Meetings
• Issues course: Local Government

Footnotes

1. Idaho Attorney General, Idaho Ethics in Government Manual (July 2026), Introduction and Questions 1 and 2, https://www.ag.idaho.gov/content/uploads/2026/07/EthicsInGovernment.pdf. The manual is the Attorney General's guidance. It is not a court decision and does not bind a court.
2. Idaho Code § 74-401 (short title; added 2015, ch. 140) and § 74-402 (policy and purpose), chapter 4. Attorney General Opinion No. 93-10 (1993), OP93-10.pdf, describes an earlier version of the Act at Idaho Code §§ 59-701 to 59-706, enacted in 1990. That opinion concerns school trustees and is cited here only for that history.
3. Idaho Code § 74-403(6)(b) (counties are governmental entities), (9), (10)(a) ("elected public official" means a person holding public office by virtue of an elected process, including persons appointed to a vacant elected office, but not judges); § 74-404(5) (appointed or employed county officials).
4. Attorney General's manual, Question 2. Both quotations are from that answer. The manual calls the standard a "ground floor" for conduct.
5. Idaho Code § 74-403(1), (3), (4) and (7). On the stock threshold, § 74-403(3) reads "holder of stock over five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more at fair market value." The wording does not say whether exactly $5,000 is covered. Ask your prosecutor if the number matters.
6. Idaho Code § 74-403(4)(a) to (d); Attorney General's manual, Question 11, which restates the four exclusions.
7. Attorney General's manual, Question 2. No Idaho appellate decision applying the class exclusions in § 74-403(4)(b) to (d) to a county commissioner was located.
8. Idaho Code § 74-404(1) (elected legislative officials), (2) (elected state officials: written statement filed with the Secretary of State), (3) (appointed or employed state officials), (4) (elected county and municipal officials), (5) (appointed or employed county and municipal officials: written statement delivered to the appointing authority).
9. Idaho Code § 74-404, introductory paragraph and subsection (4), legislature.idaho.gov (added 2015, ch. 140; not amended since).
10. Idaho Code § 74-404 (introductory paragraph and subsection (4)); Attorney General's manual, Question 10.
11. Idaho Code § 74-406(1) and (2); § 74-404(6) (a governmental entity may establish an ethics board or commission with power to issue advisory opinions, investigate and hear complaints).
12. Idaho Code § 74-503; § 31-807A (added 1995, ch. 61); Attorney General's manual, Question 16 (no express bar on a county employee buying county property, "unless that individual is a county commissioner or other officer," citing §§ 31-807A and 74-503).
13. Idaho Code § 74-501 (added 2015, ch. 140). The Attorney General's manual, Question 5, says "officer" is not defined and suggests the definition of "public official" in § 74-403 as a guide to who is covered.
14. Idaho Code § 74-502(1) and (2); Attorney General's manual, Question 13 (interest must be disclosed before the contract is formed, and the governing body must approve it without counting the vote of the officer with the remote interest).
15. Idaho Code §§ 18-1359(1)(d), 18-1361 and 18-1360; Attorney General's manual, Question 14 ("In rare circumstances a public official can contract directly with the board of which he/she is a member"). Section 18-1361 was last amended in 1996. The manual does not say whether satisfying it also satisfies § 74-501.
16. Idaho Code §§ 74-405, 74-510 and 18-1361A (each applies to a person who "receives no salary or fee as compensation for his service on said board," on the condition that the procedure in § 18-1361A is strictly observed). Section 18-1361A speaks of an appointed public servant.
17. Idaho Code §§ 74-504 and 74-509; Attorney General's manual, Question 12 ("Violations of Idaho Code § 74-501 are voidable by any party, except the interested official, but not void from the beginning"). Section 74-502(2) separately declares void a contract made in violation of its bar on influencing other officers.
18. Independent School District No. 5 ex rel. Moore v. Collins, 15 Idaho 535, 98 P. 857 (1908), read in the Harvard Caselaw Access Project text, static.case.law/idaho/15/cases/0535-01.json. The Court (Sullivan, J.) construed a 1905 school-law section declaring "void" a contract in which a trustee was interested. The Attorney General's manual, Question 12, cites the case for the contrast with voidable contracts under § 74-504.
19. Nuckols v. Lyle, 8 Idaho 589, 70 P. 401 (1902), static.case.law/idaho/8/cases/0589-01.json. The Court held the contract void under a 1899 school statute because the trustee-husband managed community property that included his wife's salary, and held that a taxpayer-trustee could sue to enjoin payment.
20. Idaho Code §§ 74-506 (affidavit of nonviolation required before an officer who audits accounts allows them), 74-507 and 74-508 (disbursing officers must not pay a warrant transferred contrary to the chapter, and must suspend payment and cause prosecution when informed by affidavit of a violation).
21. Idaho Code § 18-1356(1), (2), (6) and (7) (last amended 2025, ch. 280). Subsection (7) makes an offense under the section a misdemeanor punished as provided in the chapter (§ 18-1360).
22. Idaho Code § 18-1356(5)(a) to (d); § 18-1359(1)(b). Both use the $50 "trivial benefits" exception. Section 18-1351(1) defines "benefit" and excludes a small award (up to $500) given to a nonelected public servant by a public-servant nonprofit recognition program, which does not cover elected officials.
23. Attorney General's manual, Questions 17 to 19 (a chamber-of-commerce tour for every legislator; a vendor-paid product demonstration trip; promotional gift packs). All three concern legislators. None is a court holding. The $50 limit appears in the answer to Question 19.
24. Idaho Code §§ 18-1352(1) (felony), 18-1309 (bribery of members of a common council or board of county commissioners: one to fourteen years in the state prison), 18-1354, 18-1357 and 18-1358. Section 18-1351(7) defines "pecuniary benefit."
25. Idaho Code § 74-402; Attorney General's manual, Question 2. No Idaho appellate decision stating a general fiduciary duty for county commissioners was located, and none is cited.
26. Idaho Code § 18-1307 (conviction of any crime defined in the chapter forfeits the office); § 18-1360 (penalties; office "may" be forfeited; restitution); § 18-1362 (injunction and restitution action by a prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General; costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party). Sections 18-1307 and 18-1360 have not been reconciled in any decision located.
27. Idaho Code § 18-1359(1)(e), (4) and (5)(a) (§ 18-1359 most recently amended 2025, ch. 114 and 2026, ch. 68); Attorney General's manual, Questions 6 to 9 and the consanguinity chart.
28. Idaho Code § 67-9230(9) and (10) (State Procurement Act, amended 2026, ch. 283) and § 67-9231 (penalties). The chapter governs purchasing for the state. Title 74, chapters 4 and 5, and Idaho Code §§ 18-1351 to 18-1362 (except 18-1353A) were read for a county counterpart and none was found.
29. Idaho Code, Title 18, chapter 13, sections 18-1301 to 18-1362. Section 18-1301 is titled "Bribery of judicial officers." No section is titled official misconduct.
30. Idaho Code § 18-1359(1)(a), (c), (d) and (6); § 18-1351(2) (definition of "confidential information"). No decision was located that reconciles § 18-1359(6) with § 18-1359(1)(d).
31. Idaho Code §§ 18-1307, 18-1309, 18-1352, 18-1360, 74-406, 74-509.
32. Idaho Code § 31-2002 (investigations of county elected officers by the Attorney General; amended 2025, ch. 296); § 31-2603 (special prosecutor); Idaho Attorney General, Public Corruption, ag.idaho.gov/office-resources/public-corruption/ (three complaint criteria).
33. Idaho Code §§ 74-602, 74-603(1), (2), (6) and (8), 74-604 and 74-605 (Public Integrity in Elections Act, added 2018, ch. 260, and amended since). The Act's exception for a sitting legislator in § 74-604(2) does not apply to county officials.
34. Idaho Code § 74-606(1) to (4) (penalties and enforcement); § 74-407 (tax-related correspondence; added 2023, ch. 284; amended 2024, ch. 46).
35. Idaho Code § 34-1702(3) (county officers: 20% of the number of electors registered to vote at the last general election held in the county for the election of county officers at which the officer was elected); § 34-1702(4) (city officers: 20% of electors registered at the last general city election); § 34-1704 (75-day perfection period); § 34-1713 (no circulation until 90 days in the current term). Verified against the Idaho Legislature statute pages on October 13, 2026.
36. Idaho Code §§ 34-1706 to 34-1709 and 34-1711 to 34-1712 (signature examination, resignation window, special election, ballot form, officer continues in office, canvass by the board of county commissioners, and the vote needed to recall). Vacancy filling follows the statute for the particular office.
37. Checked October 13, 2026: idcounties.org, idcounties.org/about-iac/, idcounties.org/resources/affiliates/, icrmp.org, ag.idaho.gov and its manuals, opinions and public-corruption pages, sos.idaho.gov, sunshine.sos.idaho.gov and voteidaho.gov/campaign-finance-portal/ each returned HTTP 200. Descriptions of each organization come from its own pages. The Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association's own website did not respond and is named only through the IAC affiliates page.