How Courts and Court Records Work in Idaho

Most court research goes wrong at the first step: looking in the wrong court. A name typed into the wrong search box returns nothing, and "nothing" gets reported as "no record." This lesson builds the map. Later lessons cover the tools: the iCourt portal, the access rules, reading a docket, criminal and civil files, sealed records, PACER and appellate opinions.

This module is general education about public records and court procedure. It is not legal advice about any person's case.

One court system, four levels

Idaho's constitution vests the judicial power in a Supreme Court, district courts and "such other courts inferior to the Supreme Court as established by the legislature," and says the courts "shall constitute a unified and integrated judicial system for administration and supervision by the Supreme Court" (Article V, section 2). The word unified matters for records. Every county runs the same case management software, follows the same court rules and answers records requests under the same rule. A request that works in one county should work in the other 43.

The Idaho Supreme Court's About the Courts page describes four kinds of courts. Two are trial courts, where cases start and evidence is heard. Two are appellate courts, which review the record from below and do not hold trials.

Court	Where it sits	Who decides	What it does	Law that creates it
Magistrate division of the district court	Every county	Magistrate judges	Misdemeanors, infractions, small claims, family, probate, juvenile, evictions, smaller civil cases, first hearings in felonies	Idaho Code 1-2201
District court	Every county, grouped in seven judicial districts	District judges	Felonies, larger civil cases, appeals from the magistrate division, judicial review of some agency decisions	Article V, section 20; Idaho Code 1-701
Court of Appeals	Boise	Four judges, sitting in panels of three	Appeals the Supreme Court assigns to it	Idaho Code 1-2404 and 1-2406
Supreme Court	Boise	Five justices, one chosen by the others as chief justice	Final word on Idaho law; supervises the whole court system and writes its rules	Article V, section 6; Idaho Code 1-201

The magistrate division

The Legislature created a magistrate division of the district court in each county in 1969. It is part of the district court, which is why the case header on a misdemeanor says "In the District Court of the ... Judicial District ... Magistrate Division." For a records researcher, this is where volume lives. The Supreme Court's own list of magistrate work includes traffic and infraction cases, misdemeanors, preliminary hearings in felonies, small claims, civil actions valued at up to $10,000, landlord-tenant cases, probate, guardianships and conservatorships, juvenile cases and family law.

Idaho Code 1-2208 sets the statutory list of matters an administrative district judge may assign to magistrates: money cases up to a dollar limit, evictions (unlawful detainer), probate, misdemeanors, warrants for arrest and searches, preliminary hearings, bail, juvenile cases and traffic infractions. Idaho Code 1-2210 adds that some matters, such as custody of minors, divorce and civil cases above $5,000, may go only to magistrates who are attorneys. You will see small differences between the dollar figures in the statute and the Supreme Court's public description; the statute describes what may be assigned, while court rules and district orders set the working line. For research purposes the lesson is simple: a money case under about $10,000 is probably in the magistrate division, and a bigger one is probably in district court. Check both if you are unsure.

Small claims

Idaho Code 1-2301 lets each district create a small claims department of the magistrate division for claims of money or personal property worth up to $15,000. Small claims cannot award punitive damages or damages for pain and suffering. The case is filed in the county where the defendant lives or where the claim arose. Under Idaho Code 1-2303 the filing fee is $33 plus the cost of service, and a defendant has 21 days after service to file an answer or face a default judgment. Small claims cases are public court records like any other civil case, and their judgments matter: an unpaid small claims judgment can become a lien, which lesson 06 covers.

District court

Article V, section 20 gives the district court "original jurisdiction in all cases, both at law and in equity." In practice district judges hear felony cases after a magistrate binds them over, larger civil lawsuits, appeals from magistrate decisions, and petitions for judicial review of some state and local agency decisions, such as a land use decision by a county board. When a city council or county commission is sued, the case is almost always in district court, and those files are among the most useful public records a resident can read.

The Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court

Idaho created its Court of Appeals in 1980. Under Idaho Code 1-2406 it hears only the cases the Supreme Court assigns to it. The Supreme Court may not assign cases invoking its original jurisdiction, death sentence appeals, or appeals from the Industrial Commission or the Public Utilities Commission, and it keeps cases "in which there is substantial public interest" or significant questions about developing the law. The Court of Appeals has four judges who sit in panels of three. The Supreme Court has five justices elected statewide to six-year terms, and the justices choose a chief justice for a four-year term who serves as "the executive head of the judicial system." Appeal records are kept by the Clerk of the Supreme Court, and opinions from both courts are posted free on the Supreme Court's opinions page. Lesson 09 covers appeals and opinions.

The seven judicial districts

Idaho Code 1-801 divides the state into seven judicial districts. (The 1890 constitution started with five and let the Legislature change the number.) Each district has an administrative district judge and a trial court administrator, and both matter for records: the administrative district judge is the "custodian judge" for district records that are not in a case file, and the trial court administrator is the custodian of those records. The Supreme Court lists the counties in each district on its District Courts page.

District	Counties
First	Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone
Second	Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce
Third	Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, Washington
Fourth	Ada, Boise, Elmore, Valley
Fifth	Eight south-central counties, including Twin Falls, Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Lincoln and Minidoka (see the Supreme Court's list for all eight)
Sixth	Bannock, Bear Lake, Caribou, Franklin, Oneida, Power
Seventh	Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, Teton

Why care which district? Local rules, some administrative orders and the trial court administrator's office are organized by district. A request for a district's court budget, judge assignment orders or security policies goes to the district, while a request for a case file goes to the county clerk where the case was filed.

Which cases go where

Idaho's constitution recognizes two kinds of actions. Article V, section 1 abolished the old distinction between law and equity and says there is "but one form of action" for private rights, called a civil action, while every action by the state to punish a public offense is a criminal action. Everything a clerk files fits under one of those two roofs, plus a set of special proceedings (juvenile, child protection, mental health, probate, guardianship) that the law treats differently, often confidentially.

• Criminal: felony. Crimes punishable by state prison. The case starts in the magistrate division with a complaint and initial appearance, goes to a preliminary hearing (unless a grand jury indicts), and moves to district court for arraignment, trial and sentencing.
• Criminal: misdemeanor. Lesser crimes punishable by county jail or a fine. Handled start to finish in the magistrate division, often on a uniform citation.
• Infraction. Civil public offenses such as most traffic violations, punishable by a fine only. Magistrate division. Many are paid without any hearing.
• Civil. Lawsuits over money, property, contracts, injuries, public agency decisions and more. Magistrate division or district court depending on the amount and type.
• Small claims. Up to $15,000, magistrate division.
• Family. Divorce, custody, child support, paternity, protection orders. Magistrate division. Some records are public, many details are not (lesson 03 and lesson 07).
• Probate, guardianship and conservatorship. Estates of people who have died, and court-supervised care for minors and adults who cannot manage their own affairs. Magistrate division. Guardianship filings are largely confidential.
• Juvenile. Juvenile Corrections Act cases (delinquency) and Child Protective Act cases. Magistrate division. Mostly confidential.
• Mental health. Involuntary commitment proceedings. Confidential.
• Appeals. Magistrate decisions go to district court; district court decisions go to the Supreme Court, which may assign them to the Court of Appeals.

What counts as a court record

The words "court record" have a specific meaning in Idaho. Idaho Court Administrative Rule 32(b)(4) defines it in three parts:

1. "Any document, information or other thing that is filed, docketed, or lodged by a court or clerk of court in connection with a judicial proceeding." That covers complaints, motions, affidavits, briefs and exhibits.
2. Any index, calendar, docket, register of actions, official record of the proceedings, order, decree, judgment or minute entry, and "any information in an automated case management system" related to a judicial proceeding, including existing reports.
3. Any writing (as Idaho's Public Records Act defines writing) about the conduct of the public's business that is "prepared, owned, used or retained by the judicial branch," including the courts, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Judicial Council, the Idaho State Bar, the Idaho Bar Commission and the District Magistrates Commissions.

The first two parts are what most people mean: the case file and the docket. The third part reaches the courts' administrative records, such as budgets, contracts, policies, emails about court operations and employee pay. Those are judicial branch records too, and Rule 32 governs access to them as well. A court's purchase contract for software is a court record in this sense even though it is in no case file.

What is not a court record? Anything that never came into the court's hands. A police report, a jail booking photo, a prosecutor's case file or a 911 recording is a record of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor until someone files it in a case. Requests for those go to the agency under the Idaho Public Records Act, Idaho Code Title 74, chapter 1, covered in the sheriffs, police and courts lesson of the public records module. Once the same report is attached to an affidavit of probable cause and filed, a copy of it becomes part of the court record, subject to Rule 32's exemptions.

The register of actions

The single most useful court record is the docket, which Idaho rules call the register of actions. I.C.A.R. 31 requires the clerk of the district court to keep one for civil and criminal actions, with indexes. Every paper filed or lodged, every writ issued and returned, every appearance, order, verdict and judgment, including executions and satisfactions of judgments, "shall be noted chronologically." Notations must be brief but show the nature of each paper and "the substance of each order or judgment," with the date of entry. Rule 31 also carves out a practical exception: no register entry is required for a traffic infraction citation, other infractions, or a misdemeanor citation where the person pleads guilty at first appearance. For those, the citation itself is the docket.

The register outlives the file. Under I.C.A.R. 38, courts may destroy much of an old criminal case file a year after the time for appeal runs out (unless the defendant is still in custody, on probation or on parole), but they must keep the register of actions, all court minutes, the charging documents and all judgments. So even when the papers are gone, the register usually still answers the basic questions: what was charged, what happened and when.

Who keeps the records

In each county, trial court records are kept by the clerk of the district court. Article V, section 16 makes the clerk of the district court an elected county office with a four-year term, and Article XVIII, section 6 says "the clerk of the district court shall be ex-officio auditor and recorder." That is why one elected person in each Idaho county runs elections, keeps the county's books, records deeds and keeps the court files. Most people call that official the county clerk. Deputies in the clerk's court division do the daily work of filing, docketing and copying.

Rule 32(k)(2) names the custodian for each kind of judicial record:

Record	Custodian under I.C.A.R. 32(k)(2)	Custodian judge under 32(k)(3)
Case file in a district or magistrate case	Clerk of the District Court or a deputy clerk designated in writing	The judge or magistrate presiding over the case
Trial court record not in a case file (administrative)	Trial court administrator of the judicial district, or a judge designated by the administrative district judge	Administrative district judge
Case file in the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals	Clerk of the Supreme Court or a designated deputy	Chief Justice (Supreme Court) or Chief Judge (Court of Appeals)
Supreme Court or appellate record not in a case file	Administrative Director of the Courts or a person the Chief Justice designates	Chief Justice
Statewide case management system data and compiled information	Administrative Director of the Courts	Chief Justice
Judicial Council records	Executive Director of the Judicial Council	Chief Justice
Idaho State Bar records	Executive Director of the Idaho State Bar	Administrative district judge of the Fourth Judicial District

The Supreme Court's Court Records page gives the practical version: search the iCourt portal for general case information, use a computer kiosk at a county courthouse or ask the clerk's office where the case was filed for records from the case, contact the Supreme Court Clerk's Office for appeal records, and send requests about the courts' administrative work to the local trial court administrator or to the Supreme Court's records address for records the Supreme Court and its Administrative Office keep.

The federal courts in Idaho

Federal courts are a separate system with their own judges, clerks, rules and records. The U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Idaho were created with statehood in 1890. Idaho's clerk's office serves both the district court and the bankruptcy court, which the court describes as one of only six consolidated district and bankruptcy clerk's offices in the federal judiciary. The district is one of 15 in the Ninth Circuit, which covers nine western states. Appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then, rarely, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The District of Idaho has clerk's offices in Boise, Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello. For assigning cases it uses four divisions. The court's filing page lists the counties: the Southern Division (Boise) covers southwest and south-central Idaho including Ada, Canyon and Twin Falls counties; the Northern Division covers the five northern counties; the Central Division covers Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce counties, with hearings held in Coeur d'Alene; and the Eastern Division (Pocatello) covers eastern Idaho. Bankruptcy uses a slightly different county map, with some south-central counties assigned to its Eastern Division.

What federal courts hear

Federal district courts have limited jurisdiction. The two biggest doors are 28 U.S.C. 1331, cases "arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States," and 28 U.S.C. 1332, cases between citizens of different states where more than $75,000 is at stake. Federal crimes are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney in federal court. Bankruptcy is entirely federal. So a challenge to an Idaho statute under the U.S. Constitution, a civil rights claim against a county jail, a federal drug or firearms prosecution, a lawsuit against a federal land agency or a company's Chapter 11 case will be in federal court, while a state DUI, a divorce, an eviction or a dispute over a county road will be in state court.

Getting federal records

The District of Idaho's Obtaining Case Info page lists three routes as of October 2026:

• PACER online. Fees apply (lesson 08 covers them). Documents are not in PACER for cases filed before December 1, 2003 that have been closed more than a year.
• Public terminals. The Boise, Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello clerk's offices have public terminals to view dockets free. Copies printed from the lobby computer cost $0.10 per page; copies made by a clerk cost $0.50 per page. The clerk's office does not take credit or debit cards.
• Mail. Mailed copy requests cost $0.50 per page plus any certification fee. Files more than 20 years old may be stored at the National Archives in Seattle, with retrieval fees.

State or federal: how to tell

Clue	Probably state court	Probably federal court
Who is prosecuting	"State of Idaho" or a city (county prosecutor or city attorney)	"United States of America" (U.S. Attorney)
Case number looks like	CR01-24-12345 or CV14-23-01234 (lesson 04)	1:22-cv-00329-BLW (office, year, type, number, judge initials)
Law at issue	Idaho Code, city or county ordinance	U.S. Code, U.S. Constitution, federal regulations
Kind of case	Divorce, custody, probate, eviction, DUI, most crimes, most contract and injury suits	Bankruptcy, federal crimes, civil rights suits, challenges to state laws under the U.S. Constitution, cases against federal agencies
Where to search	iCourt portal (mycourts.idaho.gov), county clerk	PACER, RECAP, the federal clerk's office terminals
Who keeps the file	Clerk of the district court in the county	Clerk of Court, U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts, District of Idaho

Some disputes run in both systems at once. A person charged with a state crime might file a federal civil rights suit against the officers; a company might be sued in state court and then file for bankruptcy, which pauses the state case. Searching both systems is cheap insurance.

Why court records are open

Openness is the rule and secrecy the exception, and the law says so in several layers.

The Idaho Constitution

Article I, section 18 of the Idaho Constitution, in the Declaration of Rights, begins: "Courts of justice shall be open to every person." The section goes on to promise "a speedy remedy" for injury to person, property or character and justice "without sale, denial, delay, or prejudice." The clause is mostly about access to the courts as a forum, but Idaho's court rules build on the same principle for records.

Idaho Court Administrative Rule 32

The Supreme Court's records rule opens with a policy statement: "The public has a right to access the judicial department's declarations of law and public policy, and to access the records of all proceedings open to the public." The rule lists eleven goals, from promoting accessibility and governmental accountability to protecting privacy and avoiding undue burden on the courts, and says it prevails over any other rule on access to judicial records. Lesson 03 goes through the rule section by section.

The First Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court

In Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555 (1980), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the public and press have a First Amendment right to attend criminal trials, tracing open trials back centuries and concluding that "a presumption of openness inheres in the very nature of a criminal trial." In Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501 (1984), the Court applied the same reasoning to jury selection; a court may close a proceeding only for an overriding interest, with findings, and by means narrowly tailored to that interest. The Idaho Supreme Court's own Media Guide cites Press-Enterprise and tells reporters that a judge considering closure must hold a hearing and let the media and others argue against it.

The common-law right to records

Separate from the First Amendment is a much older common-law right. In Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589 (1978), the Court said "the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents." The same opinion held that the right "is not absolute" and that the decision to allow access to a particular record is left to the trial court's discretion in light of the facts. That balance, a strong presumption with case-by-case exceptions, is the structure of Idaho's rule too.

Publishing what the record says

In Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469 (1975), the Court held that a state could not punish a broadcaster for reporting the name of a rape victim that the reporter got from public court records open to inspection. The case is about publishing, not access: once a court makes a record public, the First Amendment strongly protects accurate reporting of it. Whether a reporter should publish a victim's name is a separate ethical question, covered in lessons 07 and 10.

The big map: what to search where

Case type	Court	What the public can usually see	Where to search first
Felony	Magistrate division (first hearings), then district court	Register of actions, charging documents, motions, orders, judgments, hearing calendars. Not presentence reports or unreturned warrants.	iCourt portal; county clerk for documents
Misdemeanor and DUI	Magistrate division	Register of actions and filings. The citation itself is exempt from public disclosure under I.C.A.R. 32(g)(11), though the case type is not.	iCourt portal; county clerk
Traffic and other infractions	Magistrate division	Case existence, charge, outcome, fine	iCourt portal (also used to pay)
Civil lawsuit	Magistrate division or district court by amount and type	Nearly everything filed, minus redacted identifiers and anything sealed	iCourt portal; county clerk
Small claims (up to $15,000)	Magistrate division	Claim, answer, judgment	iCourt portal; county clerk
Eviction (unlawful detainer)	Magistrate division	Open, but cases filed on or after January 1, 2025 that are dismissed are shielded after three years or on stipulation (I.C.A.R. 32(j)(2))	iCourt portal; county clerk
Divorce, custody, child support, paternity	Magistrate division	Register of actions and a redacted copy of orders on request; other records only after a request on a court form and review (I.C.A.R. 32(g)(20))	iCourt portal for the register; county clerk
Civil protection order	Magistrate division	The court's orders; petitions and related records are exempt (I.C.A.R. 32(g)(16))	County clerk
Probate (estates)	Magistrate division	Generally open: petitions, wills admitted to probate, orders	iCourt portal; county clerk
Guardianship and conservatorship	Magistrate division	Register of actions, letters of appointment, bond orders and final orders only (I.C.A.R. 32(g)(19))	iCourt portal for the register; county clerk
Juvenile Corrections Act	Magistrate division	Mostly exempt for cases filed on or after July 1, 2017, unless a court orders release (I.C.A.R. 32(g)(9))	County clerk, with a motion
Child protection, adoption, termination of parental rights, mental health commitments	Magistrate division	Exempt	Not available to the public except as a court orders
Appeals in state court	Supreme Court or Court of Appeals	Opinions, briefs, docket	Supreme Court opinions page; Clerk of the Supreme Court
Federal civil or criminal	U.S. District Court, District of Idaho	Docket and most filings; sealed matters excluded; federal privacy redactions	PACER; RECAP; clerk's office terminals
Bankruptcy	U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Idaho	Petition, schedules, claims, orders	PACER; clerk's office terminals
Federal appeals	Ninth Circuit	Opinions, memorandum dispositions, briefs, argument video	ca9.uscourts.gov; PACER