Reference · general information
Known Idaho Open Meeting Law Violations
Key data and sources: Idaho Open Meeting Law, Idaho Code 74-201 to 74-208 · Attorney General's Open Meeting Law Manual (July 2026) · Back to the module
Jump to: Kinds of violation · Cases at a glance · Case details · What the record shows · Sources
This page collects the kinds of conduct that break Idaho's open meeting law, Idaho Code 74-201 through 74-208, and the documented Idaho cases from 2017 through 2026 where a public body was found to have violated it, admitted a violation, or was accused of one. It is general information compiled from the statute, the Attorney General's manual, court records and news reporting. It is not legal advice, and it is not a complete census. Violations that nobody noticed, reported or wrote about do not appear here.
Read the status line on each entry. An allegation is not a finding. A prosecutor's letter is not a court ruling. A cure under 74-208(7) is an agency's own acknowledgment, and usually ends enforcement. Several entries below are still open or have no reported outcome.
Kinds of violation
Every case in this reference falls into one or more of these categories. The citations are to the Idaho Code sections that set the rule.
| Category | The rule | What a violation looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Missing or late meeting notice Lesson 3 in this module | 74-204: five days for regular meetings, 24 hours for special meetings, with a good-faith effort to notify news media that asked to be on the agency's notice list | Special meetings called on a few hours' notice, notice never posted, notice not sent to the media list, advisory committee meetings held with no public notice at all |
| Late or defective agenda Lesson 3 in this module | 74-204: agenda posted at least 48 hours ahead for regular meetings, and action items identified as such | An item posted about 24 hours before the vote, a major purchase or hire missing from the agenda, an item filed under an unrelated heading, a resolution added mid-meeting with no stated reason |
| Deliberation or decision outside a meeting Lesson 2 in this module | 74-202 and 74-203: deliberation and decisions by a quorum belong in a noticed open meeting | Email chains among enough members to make a quorum, attending an unnoticed gathering where a pending decision is discussed, small separate meetings that together reach a quorum |
| Defective executive session Lesson 4 in this module | 74-206: two-thirds roll call vote, the specific statutory subsection stated, a purpose the statute allows | Motion that never names the subsection, wrong subsection cited, a purpose the statute does not list, closed sessions about matters that belong in the open |
| Final action in executive session Lesson 4 in this module | 74-206: no final action or final decision in a closed session | A superintendent's evaluation, contract extension and pay raise approved together in a closed session |
| Minutes and records Lesson 5 in this module | 74-205: minutes must show members present, all motions, resolutions, orders or ordinances proposed and their disposition, and the results of all votes (each member's vote by name if a member asks) | Minutes that omit required content or the authority for a closed session, reported in some complaints as part of a larger pattern |
| Remote and site-visit access Lesson 7 in this module | 74-203(5) for electronic meetings, and Noble v. Kootenai County for site visits | Public unable to hear the proceedings, hybrid meetings with no working audio |
| Failure to cure properly Lesson 8 in this module | 74-208(7): public response within 14 days, then a cure within 14 days by declaring the actions void | Admitting past violations and then repeating them, as alleged in the Teton County case below |
What the statute says happens next
Under 74-208, an action taken at a noncompliant meeting is null and void, and a suit to void it has to be filed within 30 days of the decision. Individual members face civil penalties of up to $250 for participating in a violating meeting, up to $1,500 for a knowing violation, and up to $2,500 for a knowing repeat within 12 months. Prosecutors and the Attorney General enforce. Private suits seek compliance and cannot produce penalties or damages. A body can cure by acknowledging the violation and declaring the actions void. Lesson 8 walks through the deadlines.
Documented cases at a glance
| Date | Body | Category | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | Caldwell School District trustees | Executive session, wrong subsection | Acknowledged and cured |
| 2026 | Bellevue City Council | Deliberation by email | Prosecutor found a violation, no penalty |
| Sept to Nov 2025 | Nampa City Council | Executive session | Self-cure resolution adopted |
| 2022 to 2024 | Teton County commissioners and advisory committees | Notice, agendas, deliberation, cure | Admitted in 2024, civil complaint filed Nov 2024 |
| Jan to Mar 2024 | Canyon County commissioners | Deliberation outside a meeting | Special prosecutor found a violation, no remedy available |
| May 2024 | Ada County Highway District | Agenda timing | Prosecutor found a violation, cured by re-vote |
| 2023 to 2025 | State Board of Education | Executive sessions | Supreme Court sided with the AG on the law, case dismissed with no finding |
| Aug 2023 | Idaho Land Board | Executive session motion | Acknowledged and cured |
| Oct 2021 to Feb 2022 | Bonner County commissioners | Agenda notice | AG found a likely violation |
| 2022 | Kootenai County Optional Forms of Government Study Commission | Deliberation outside a meeting | Alleged, no outcome reported |
| Sept 2022 | Teton School District 401 | Late agenda amendment | Cure meeting scheduled |
| June 2020 | Central District Health | Emergency meeting notice | Acknowledged and cured |
| Dec 2019 | Marsh Valley School District 21 | Final action in executive session | Acknowledged and cured |
| April 2019 | Idaho Public Charter School Commission | Executive session | AG found probable cause, commission admitted |
| Aug 2018 | Ada County Highway District | Serial email meeting | AG found a violation, no fine |
| June 2018 | New Plymouth School Board | Hiring not on the agenda | Acknowledged and cured |
| 2017 | Greater Boise Auditorium District | Meetings below a quorum | Complaint filed, no outcome reported |
Case details
Caldwell School District trustees, June 2026
What happenedThe board met in executive session on June 8, 2026, and cited the discipline provision of 74-206(1)(b) when the hiring provision, 74-206(1)(a), was the one that applied.
OutcomeOn June 30 the board acknowledged the violation under 74-208, declared any action from the June 8 session null and void, and held a short executive session to redo the discussion. The chair described it as information only. Trustees said the aim was to correct the citation and keep the district in line with state law.
Bellevue City Council, 2026
What happenedA councilwoman sent one email to the full council, a quorum, asking about the city's authority to change plans for the Muldoon Canyon spring water system without a vote of the public. The mayor said in March 2026 that the email amounted to deliberation outside a noticed meeting.
OutcomeIn an April 2026 letter to the city attorney, Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback concluded the email was a meeting about public business. He said the mayor's reply telling members not to respond partly cured the problem, and recommended placing the email in the official record to finish the cure. He found no civil penalty warranted. The councilwoman said she would be more careful with one-way communications.
Nampa City Council, Ford Idaho Center, September to November 2025
What happenedA complaint alleged that motions and minutes for closed sessions about the Ford Idaho Center did not properly state the reasons for going into executive session, and that at least one session had no authorized basis. The city had cited a trade-or-commerce reason for one session. The Canyon County Prosecutor's Office passed the matter to the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney, Grant Loebs, for review. The council had declared the center underutilized on September 15 and voted on October 6 to convey it to the College of Western Idaho.
At a November 3 meeting several members objected to curing without a formal complaint, and the council tabled the question. One council member said the mayor regularly asked members how they would vote during executive sessions and asked that it stop. The mayor said the council does not vote in executive session and called the timing political.
OutcomeOn November 6 Loebs wrote that the council could cure by resolution, and called the problem a possible technical and procedural mistake rather than a secret decision. On November 7 the council adopted a self-cure resolution 4 to 2 and held a new vote to declare the center underutilized, which passed 3 to 3 with the mayor breaking the tie. No prior action was voided. A public hearing on the conveyance was set for December 1, 2025.
Teton County commissioners and advisory committees, 2022 to 2024
What happenedAt a February 2024 special meeting the Board of County Commissioners acknowledged that the public was not properly notified of 18 meetings dating back to 2022, and that four of them violated the open meeting law. The meetings involved the Wildlife and Waterways Recreation advisory committees and the Natural Resource Overlay map. The committee recommended the map on December 14, 2022, and the board adopted it on January 9, 2023. As a cure the board repealed the map, which reverted to the 2006 version until a new map is adopted in compliance with the law. Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Taylor was appointed special prosecutor.
In early November 2024, after a six-month investigation that began with a complaint from a Driggs resident, Taylor filed a civil complaint on behalf of the State of Idaho. Reports count between 39 and more than 40 alleged violations, about ten of them after the 2022 and 2023 admissions. The alleged conduct includes meetings held without public notice, agendas never published, deliberations outside public view, failure to properly cure earlier violations, and errors in minutes. The complaint named committee members and elected officials individually and sought penalties that one report puts at more than $2.3 million.
ResponseThe commissioners said the notice failures were human error, not secrecy, and called the complaint a political attack timed a week before the general election. The county chair said the county was taking the allegations seriously.
OutcomeI could not find a reported ruling, settlement or dismissal. The status of the case should be checked in court records.
Canyon County Board of Commissioners, January to March 2024
What happenedTwo commissioners attended a January 31, 2024 meeting of the Canyon County Republican Central Committee as committee members, and a third attended as a private citizen. Candidates for county clerk were interviewed. The attendance was not posted on the county's meeting agenda. On February 2 the three commissioners voted at a public meeting of about ten minutes to appoint Rick Hogaboam as clerk.
FindingBonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall, serving as special prosecutor, wrote on March 29, 2024 that the board violated the law by attending an unnoticed meeting and deliberating toward a decision there. He pointed to a commissioner's use of "we" at the public meeting as a sign the board had already settled on its choice. He concluded that more than 30 days had passed, so no remedy remained. A Canyon County deputy prosecutor read the problem as deliberation outside a public meeting rather than the attendance itself.
DisputedOne commissioner said he and another had asked a deputy prosecutor beforehand whether attending was allowed and were told it was fine, and denied any violation. An attorney the commissioners hired, former Attorney General David Leroy, said Marshall relied on the county prosecutor's account and interviewed no one involved. Former Attorney General Jim Jones said the county prosecutor followed the procedure in state law.
Ada County Highway District headquarters purchase, May 2024
What happenedOn May 1, 2024 the ACHD board voted to spend $16.4 million on an office building on Meeker Avenue in Boise for its new headquarters. The item was posted about 24 hours before the vote. The statute requires agendas at least 48 hours ahead, and an agenda can be amended only after a good-faith effort to list every probable item in the original. ACHD first said leaders wanted to tell staff in person before the item went public, and later gave a different reason tied to a lien on the property.
FindingThe Ada County Prosecutor's office opened an investigation after BoiseDev asked about the posting. Chief Criminal Deputy Shawna Dunn wrote that the circumstances did not excuse the late posting.
OutcomeACHD's general counsel said the May 1 decision was void. The item was noticed 48 hours ahead for the May 22 meeting, and commissioners re-approved the purchase unanimously without further discussion. Dunn agreed the second vote cured the violation.
State Board of Education and the University of Phoenix, 2023 to 2025
What happenedThe State Board held three closed sessions starting in March 2023, the last on May 15, about the University of Idaho's proposed $685 million purchase of the University of Phoenix, and approved the purchase in public on May 18. It relied on the exception for preliminary negotiations in competition with other governing bodies, 74-206(1)(e). Attorney General Raúl Labrador sued in June 2023.
RulingsIn January 2024 Ada County District Judge Jason Scott ruled for the Board and awarded it about $243,000 in fees and costs. On December 5, 2024 the Idaho Supreme Court reversed 4 to 1 in Labrador v. Idaho State Board of Education, Docket No. 51580. The majority held that not every negotiation before a final contract is preliminary, and that the Board had to actually be in competition with another body, not merely believe it was. The court did not decide that the Board violated the law, and sent the case back.
OutcomeThe case was dismissed by agreement in June 2025 after the purchase was terminated, with no finding of a violation. The Board has maintained it did not break the law.
Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners, August 2023
What happenedAt its August 15, 2023 meeting the Land Board entered executive session on a motion that did not cite the subsection of Idaho Code authorizing the closed session. The agenda and minutes showed the correct citation. The Attorney General made the motion, the Secretary of State seconded it, and the Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction voted yes. An Idaho Statesman opinion editor raised it on behalf of the Idaho Press Club's First Amendment Committee.
OutcomeAt a September 1 special meeting the board acknowledged the violation, voided the August 15 executive session, redid the motion with the code section, and held a session of about five minutes with counsel on pending litigation. It reported taking no action in closed session.
Bonner County commissioners, Sandpoint ice arena, 2021 to 2022
What happenedAn October 26 agenda item about a lease for an $8 million ice arena on county land near the fairgrounds was listed under the heading "Fair" and did not mention the arena, the parking lot or the adjoining property. The county sheriff, an opponent of the project, raised the issue in a December 6 email to the county prosecutor, who asked the Attorney General's office to review it.
OutcomeIn an opinion reported in February 2022 the Attorney General's office found the board likely violated the law. It told the board it had 14 days to respond publicly, recommended it consult its attorney, take steps to cure, and hold open meeting law training within 60 days.
Kootenai County Optional Forms of Government Study Commission, 2022
What happenedA three-person subcommittee formed in late February 2022 to write the commission's final report allegedly circulated drafts to other members for feedback without holding public meetings. The commission had recommended changes including expanding the county commission from three to five members. A Coeur d'Alene resident complained in writing to the commissioners and the county prosecutor.
ResponseThe commission chair denied a violation and said the subcommittee only formatted recommendations that were already public. A cure by repeating the meeting was discussed. I did not find a reported resolution.
Teton School District 401 trustees, September 2022
What happenedAt its September 12, 2022 meeting the board added a resolution to censure a trustee partway through the meeting, stated no reason for the amendment, and voted on it. The censure removed her as vice chair and from the finance committee. The law requires a reason for an amendment and limits final action on a late-added item unless an emergency is declared. A Victor resident sent written notice of the violation.
OutcomeThe district scheduled a special meeting it called a self-recognition and cure, at which the board had to vote on the censure again.
Central District Health Board of Health, June 2020
What happenedThe board held an emergency meeting on Saturday, June 20, 2020 that moved Ada County back to Stage 3 of COVID-19 reopening, closing bars and limiting gatherings to 50 people. News media on the district's list were not notified, and the notice was not posted online or at the office because staff were working from home. The district's attorney argued that 24-hour notice is not required for an emergency meeting. The article notes that the law still calls for a good-faith effort to notify the media.
OutcomeThe board called another emergency meeting the following Friday, with online video and phone access and notice emailed to the media an hour ahead, voided the June 20 order and issued an identical replacement.
Marsh Valley School District 21, December 2019
What happenedThe board approved the superintendent's evaluation, contract extension and pay raise together in one motion in a closed session. The board had reportedly handled evaluations this way for years. Attorneys for the State Department of Education told the board in December 2019 that this was not allowed.
OutcomeIn January 2020 the board acknowledged the violation, voided the earlier approvals, re-approved the evaluation and contract extension in separate open motions, and put off the pay raise.
Idaho Public Charter School Commission, April 2019
What happenedThe commission appeared to discuss, in a closed April 2019 meeting, topics that belonged in public. The Attorney General's office reviewed the matter in a 13-page report and a two-page letter to the chair, found probable cause to pursue an open meeting complaint on several counts, and stopped short of declaring a violation. Idaho Education News obtained the documents through a public records request.
OutcomeSoon after the documents became public the commission admitted the violations and planned a special public meeting to consider the Attorney General's recommendations.
Ada County Highway District, August 2018
What happenedIn early August 2018 two commissioners exchanged emails about vehicle registration fees. The Attorney General found they held a serial meeting in violation of the law. No action on the fees had been taken since the emails.
OutcomeTo cure, the commission had to acknowledge the violation at a meeting before September 14. The Attorney General did not recommend a fine for either commissioner. One commissioner said he supports open meetings and that the interpretation invites public engagement. The other declined to comment.
New Plymouth School Board, June 2018
What happenedAt its June 18, 2018 meeting the board hired a new superintendent, but the posted agenda said nothing about hiring or discussing a superintendent. Idaho Education News filed a complaint with the Gem and Payette county prosecutors.
OutcomeOn July 12 the chair moved to recognize the violation, the board voided all action from June 18, including the hire, and then unanimously rehired the superintendent on a two-year contract at $93,000 a year.
Greater Boise Auditorium District, 2017
What happenedA group called Concerned Boise Taxpayers filed a complaint with the Ada County Prosecutor in October 2017 alleging the district arranged small, separate meetings with fewer than a quorum of board members, in dealings with a proposed downtown stadium developer, so that no public meeting occurred. The complaint pointed to a 2014 email from the executive director suggesting the district meet with two board members at a time. The group obtained the documents through public records requests.
ResponseThe prosecutor would not confirm the complaint. The executive director said the district would cooperate and had made no formal commitment to the project at that stage. I did not find a reported outcome.
What the record shows
Most of the matters above ended with the body voting to void its own action and, in several cases, voting again on the same item a few days or weeks later. The reports for these cases mention no civil penalty imposed on any member. The Teton County complaint is the one entry where penalties against individuals were actively sought, and its outcome is not reported in the sources I found.
The notice and agenda cases are mostly small timing and wording failures: 24 hours instead of 48, a heading that did not describe the item, a motion missing a citation. The cases about deliberation outside a meeting concern email, an unposted gathering and subquorum meetings, and they are the hardest to remedy. In the Canyon County matter the finding came after the 30-day window to void the action had closed. That is the same deadline problem lesson 8 works through.
Most of these came to light through someone outside the body: a news organization, a sheriff, a resident, a mayor, an Idaho Press Club committee, or the Department of Education's attorneys. That pattern is the reason lesson 9 covers documenting a suspected violation.
Using this list
- Check each case's current status before repeating it. Several were still open when reported.
- Describe findings by who made them: a prosecutor, the Attorney General, a court, or the agency itself.
- Search a body's agendas and minutes for "self-recognition," "cure," "null and void" and "open meeting" to find cures that never made the news.
- Ask the county prosecutor and the Attorney General's office for their records of open meeting complaints and how each was resolved.
Sources
- Idaho Code Title 74, Chapter 2, Idaho Open Meeting Law (74-201 through 74-208) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Attorney General, Idaho Open Meeting Law Manual (July 2026) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News, Caldwell trustees acknowledge and cure open meeting violation (July 1, 2026) checked 2026-10
- Mountain Express, Prosecutor says Bellevue councilwoman violated open meeting law (April 10, 2026) checked 2026-10
- BoiseDev, Nampa considers what action to take after allegation of Idaho Center open meeting violations (Nov. 2025) checked 2026-10
- BoiseDev, No secret decision, but Nampa takes steps to fix open meeting violations (Nov. 11, 2025) checked 2026-10
- East Idaho News, Teton County commissioners acknowledge open meeting law violations (Feb. 2024) checked 2026-10
- East Idaho News, Special prosecutor files civil complaint against Teton County commissioners (Nov. 2024) checked 2026-10
- Jackson Hole News&Guide, civil complaint alleges open meeting law violations in Teton County (Nov. 2024) checked 2026-10
- Yahoo News, Did all 3 Canyon County commissioners break Idaho's open meeting law? (2024) checked 2026-10
- BoiseDev, Prosecutor: ACHD violated open meetings law in HQ purchase (June 13, 2024) checked 2026-10
- BoiseDev, Idaho Supreme Court rules on closed-door meetings in the University of Phoenix matter (Dec. 5, 2024) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Attorney General, dismissal of the Phoenix lawsuit (June 18, 2025) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Capital Sun, Idaho Land Board cures open meeting law violation (Sept. 1, 2023) checked 2026-10
- Lewiston Tribune, Commission to address Labrador violation (Aug. 31, 2023) checked 2026-10
- Sandpoint Reader, Idaho AG: BoCo likely violated Open Meeting Law in ice rink matter (2022) checked 2026-10
- Coeur d'Alene Press, Commissioners contend complaint (April 1, 2022) checked 2026-10
- Jackson Hole News&Guide, Teton 401 school district to cure open meeting violation (2022) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Press, Central District Health voids, reissues Stage 3 order to amend open meeting law violation (2020) checked 2026-10
- Idaho News 6, Idaho school board unknowingly violated open meetings law for years (Jan. 17, 2020) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Press, A.G.'s office: Charter commission appeared to violate open meeting law (July 25, 2019) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Press, AG finds 2 ACHD commissioners violated open meeting law through serial meeting (Sept. 7, 2018) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News, New Plymouth admits open meeting violation (July 18, 2018) checked 2026-10
- BoiseDev, Complaint: Agency skirted Idaho law over stadium meetings (Nov. 6, 2017) checked 2026-10