Which Local Offices Exist

Most people who run for local office in Idaho start with a problem. The road out front floods every spring. The library board cut hours. The fire district wants a levy. Then they discover that the board in charge of that problem is elected, that the seat is on a ballot they have never noticed, and that the filing window closes in three weeks. This lesson is the map. It lists the elected local offices Idaho law creates, how long each term runs, when each is on the ballot, whether a party label appears next to the name, and which statute governs it. Later lessons cover who is eligible, how to file and how partisan and nonpartisan races differ.

This course is general education about Idaho law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. For an official answer about your seat, go to your county clerk's elections office or the Secretary of State's elections division.

Two election days and one election office

Before 2011, a county could have a school election in one month, a fire district election in another and a city election in a third. The legislature consolidated them. Idaho Code 34-106 now says no more than two elections may be held in any county in a calendar year, and it names the dates: the third Tuesday in May and the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. A governing board can call an emergency election for a real calamity such as a flood or fire, and there are narrow exceptions, including water districts under chapter 6 of Title 42 (exempt) and irrigation districts, which may also vote on certain questions in February and August.

The same section says who takes office when. A winner in May takes office on the date in the certificate of election, no more than 60 days after the vote. A winner in November takes office as the constitution provides or on January 1 after the election. Individual statutes then set exact start dates for many offices, and the table below lists the ones the statutes name.

The second piece is Idaho Code 34-1401, the start of the Uniform District Election Law. It says the county clerk shall administer all elections on behalf of any political subdivision, including special district elections, and that school district and highway district elections are run by the clerk of the county where the district lies. Districts that cross county lines are run jointly, with the "home county" (where the district's business office sits) coordinating. A handful of water bodies are exempt from chapter 14: water districts, recreational water and sewer districts, aquifer recharge districts, ground water management and ground water districts, and irrigation districts. Cities follow chapter 14 except where the municipal election chapter, Title 50 chapter 4, says otherwise.

For a candidate, that means one office, the county clerk's elections office, knows the calendar for nearly every seat in the county. The course on who runs Idaho elections covers the clerk's broader role.

County offices

Idaho has 44 counties, and each elects the same set of officers. The Idaho Constitution, Article XVIII, Section 6 requires county commissioners to be elected biennially and a sheriff, assessor, coroner and treasurer every four years. It makes the clerk of the district court ex officio auditor and recorder, and it says no other county offices shall be established. The prosecuting attorney is elected under the statutes.

The election sections sit together in chapter 6 of Title 34, from 34-617 (commissioners) through 34-623 (prosecuting attorney). Each one sets the cycle, the qualifications, the filing office (the county clerk for all of them) and a $40 filing fee. All are partisan offices: party candidates are nominated at the May primary in even-numbered years and face independents and write-ins at the November general.

• County commissioners. Three per county, each elected from a commissioner district. Idaho Code 31-703 sets up a rotation in which, at each general election, one seat is filled for two years and one for four, with the four-year term passing from district to district. The practical result is that at least two commission seats are on the ballot every two years.
• Sheriff. Four-year term, elected in the presidential-year cycle (1972 and every four years after, per 34-618). First-time sheriffs must complete a state POST tutorial unless already certified, and attend the newly elected sheriffs' school.
• Clerk of the district court. Four-year term on the 1974 cycle (34-619). Also the county auditor and recorder, and in practice the chief local election official.
• Treasurer. Four-year term on the 1974 cycle (34-620). Also ex officio public administrator and tax collector.
• Assessor. Four-year term on the 1974 cycle (34-621). Values property for the tax rolls (see the property tax course).
• Coroner. Four-year term on the 1986 cycle (34-622). New coroners must attend a coroner's school within one year of taking office.
• Prosecuting attorney. Four-year term on the 1984 cycle (34-623). The candidate must be admitted to practice law in Idaho.

Work out the cycles and the pattern is simple. The 1974 cycle (clerk, treasurer, assessor) and the 1986 cycle (coroner) fall in midterm years such as 2026 and 2030. The 1972 cycle (sheriff) and the 1984 cycle (prosecutor) fall in presidential years such as 2028. Commission seats are on every even-year ballot.

Each party also elects a precinct committeeman in every precinct at the primary under 34-624. It is a party office. Even so, it appears on the public primary ballot, is filed with the county clerk, and has no filing fee. Lesson 4 explains why these seats matter more than their size suggests.

Cities

Idaho cities elect mayors and council members in November of odd-numbered years. Idaho Code 50-405 sets the city general election on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each odd year. Mayors serve four-year terms (50-601), and so do council members (50-702), unless a statute provides otherwise. New council members are installed at the first council meeting in January, after the outgoing council wraps up the prior year's money matters. City races are nonpartisan: 50-406 says the declaration of candidacy shall make "no mention relating to party."

How a council seat is filled varies more than people expect:

• At-large, open field. Everyone runs citywide and the top vote-getters win as many seats as are open. This is the default.
• Numbered seats. Under 50-707, a city may assign a number to each seat by ordinance, at least 120 days before the election. Candidates then file for one numbered seat and run head to head, though all city voters still vote.
• Districts. Under 50-707A, a city under 100,000 people may create council districts by ordinance. A city over 100,000 must. Candidates must live in the district and only that district's voters choose.

A city may also require a majority to win the mayor's race or a numbered or district council seat, with a runoff between the top two within 30 days, by ordinance under 50-612 and 50-707B. Without such an ordinance, the most votes wins. If you are thinking about a council run, the city code tells you which of these systems your city uses. The local government course explains what the mayor and council actually control.

School district trustees

Each school district is governed by a board of trustees under Idaho Code 33-501. Elementary districts have three trustees and other districts five, though districts that changed boundaries may have five to nine, and districts formed by consolidation after 2008 have five or seven. Since 2018, trustees serve four-year terms beginning at noon on January 1 after the election.

Trustees are elected by zone. A trustee must live in the zone and be an elector of the district at nomination and election. Idaho Code 33-503 sets the election on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in odd-numbered years, conducted under the uniform district election law. Charter districts are included. The person with the most votes in the zone wins, and a tie is broken by a coin toss before the board. Trustee races are nonpartisan.

Highway districts

Roads outside cities in much of Idaho are run by highway districts, not the county. Idaho law sets up two main kinds:

• Ordinary highway districts under Title 40, chapter 13. Idaho Code 40-1305 elects commissioners on the third Tuesday of May in odd-numbered years for four-year terms, with each commissioner living in a subdistrict but elected districtwide. Ballots are nonpartisan under 34-905A and the most votes wins.
• Single countywide highway districts under Title 40, chapter 14. Idaho Code 40-1404A covers a countywide district in a county of more than 200,000 people, which today means the Ada County Highway District. It has five subdistricts. County commissioners, mayors and city council members may not serve on it.

The special districts

Special districts are the least watched seats on the ballot and some of the easiest to win. Several have no contest at all in a given year. Each is set up by its own chapter of the Idaho Code:

• Fire protection districts (Title 31, chapter 14). Three commissioners from subdistricts, or more if the board expands. 31-1410 holds elections in November of odd-numbered years for four-year terms, which start the second Monday of January (31-1409).
• Library districts (Title 33, chapter 27). Five trustees. 33-2715 says trustees are elected on the uniform election date in May. A 2024 law, Senate Bill 1235, cut terms from six years to four: trustees elected in 2025 or later serve four years.
• Cemetery maintenance districts (Title 27, chapter 1). Three commissioners. 27-111 holds elections in November of odd-numbered years for four-year terms. Under a 2024 change (Senate Bill 1316), districts with fewer than 5,000 registered electors may elect at large.
• Recreation districts (Title 31, chapter 43). Three or five directors. 31-4306 holds elections in November of odd years. Terms are four years, starting January 1 (31-4305).
• Hospital districts (Title 39, chapter 13). Seven elected trustees. 39-1330 holds a "biennial election" on the third Tuesday of May in odd years, with six-year staggered terms.
• Water and sewer districts (Title 42, chapter 32). 42-3211 holds a biennial election on the third Tuesday of May in odd years, with six-year staggered terms.
• Soil and water conservation districts (Title 22, chapter 27). Five or seven supervisors. 22-2721 holds elections in November of odd years for four-year terms starting January 1. Supervisors must be landowners or farmers in the district and registered Idaho voters.
• Irrigation districts (Title 43). Directors serve three-year terms, with about a third elected each year on a 34-106 date (43-201). The voters are different. Under 43-111, only qualified electors who own land on the district's assessment book and live in a county the district covers (or within 15 miles, if the bylaws allow) may vote, and a district may adopt one vote per assessed acre. Irrigation districts are outside the uniform district election chapter and run their own nominations through the district secretary.

Other bodies exist too: ground water districts, aquifer recharge districts, water districts with watermasters, auditorium districts, community college trustees (Title 33, chapter 21) and more. If a body levies a tax in your county, the county clerk's list of taxing districts will show it, and its own chapter of the code will say how its board is chosen.

The big table

Office	Term	Party label?	When elected	Where you file (as of Oct. 2026)	Governing statute
County commissioner	2 or 4 years, rotating	Yes	May primary and Nov. general, even years	County clerk	Const. art. XVIII s. 6; 31-703; 34-617
Sheriff	4 years	Yes	Presidential years (2028)	County clerk	34-618
Clerk, treasurer, assessor	4 years	Yes	Midterm years (2026, 2030)	County clerk	34-619, 34-620, 34-621
Coroner	4 years	Yes	Midterm years (2026, 2030)	County clerk	34-622
Prosecuting attorney	4 years	Yes	Presidential years (2028)	County clerk	34-623
Precinct committeeman (party office)	2 years	Yes	May primary, even years	County clerk	34-624
Mayor	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	City clerk	50-405, 50-601
City council	4 years (some 2-year seats)	No	Nov., odd years	City clerk	50-405, 50-702, 50-707, 50-707A
School trustee	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	See lesson 3 (statutes differ)	33-501, 33-502, 33-503
Highway district commissioner	4 years	No	May, odd years	County clerk under 34-1404 (40-1305C still names the district; see lesson 3)	40-1305, 40-1305C
Countywide highway district (Ada)	4 years	From 2028, yes	Even-year general; primaries from 2028	County clerk	40-1404A, 34-625
Fire protection commissioner	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	County clerk under 34-1404	31-1409, 31-1410
Library district trustee	4 years (from 2025)	No	May	County clerk under 34-1404	33-2715, 33-2716
Cemetery district commissioner	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	County clerk under 34-1404	27-110, 27-111
Recreation district director	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	County clerk under 34-1404	31-4305, 31-4306
Hospital district trustee	6 years	No	May, odd years	County clerk under 34-1404	39-1326, 39-1330
Water and sewer district director	6 years	No	May, odd years	County clerk under 34-1404	42-3211
Soil and water conservation supervisor	4 years	No	Nov., odd years	See lesson 3	22-2721
Irrigation district director	3 years	No	Each year on a 34-106 date	District secretary	43-111, 43-201

Sources: the statutes listed, read on legislature.idaho.gov in October 2026, and the Secretary of State's How to Run for Office page. The 34-1404 filing rule changed July 1, 2026; lesson 3 covers where the older district statutes still point elsewhere.