Idaho Supreme Court amends its earlier coronavirus response order

The Idaho Supreme Court amended its COVID-19 response order Monday to include adoptions as matters that must be heard, forbids juries to be called, suspends certain court rules and changes how the public can access criminal proceedings.

The order goes into effect today. The Idaho Supreme Court’s order issued March 13 was amended to give state courts further direction on how to proceed in light of the pandemic and public health concerns.

The March 13 order encouraged judges to use telephone and video technology for all necessary hearings, including arraignments and mental health hearings, and excused all in-person appearances in civil and criminal dockets. Only emergency matters, child protection hearings, domestic violence hearings and evidentiary hearings in criminal cases were excluded.

The amended order added adoption hearings to matters that must be heard by the courts during the time the order is in effect. Judges were ordered to continue small claims, eviction, juvenile, probate, contested infractions and guardianship cases.

Also, the amended order does not have an expiration date and will expire when the Supreme Court issues a new order; no jury panels can be called for trials including criminal trials; the public’s access to criminal cases are at the discretion of the presiding judge; uncontested infractions will not need to be continued; and disqualification without cause rules are suspended for all new case filings while the order is in effect, Administrative Director of Idaho Courts Sara Thomas said.

“The Idaho Supreme Court does not issue explanations for its orders,” Thomas said. “Rather, the court speaks only through its records. In this instance, that would be the order itself.”

The order’s lack of an expiration date was not a concern for 2nd District Administrative Judge Jay Gaskill.

“I do not see any difference between continuing to extend a date and making this not expire on a certain date,” Gaskill said. “In fact, I think that this would allow them to reinstate business as usual in a faster and more effective manner when the crisis is deemed to be over. We are not doing away with the right to a trial, we are postponing it.”

As to public access to criminal cases, written requests to the administrative district judge or the trial court administrator would be the best way to proceed, Gaskill said. Individuals seeking access to criminal proceedings could also make the presiding judge aware of the request, Gaskill said.

“If you would like access to any proceeding, you may wish to submit a request at the local courthouse,” Thomas said. “Each one is handling the request process a bit differently at the moment.”

Thomas suggested using the request form usually used for requesting photographs or video be allowed at a court hearing, which are found at isc.idaho.gov/files/ISC_Media_Guide_2020.pdf.

“The Administrative Office of the Courts is working to create a simple form for everyone who is seeking access to use, but that isn’t quite done yet,” Thomas said. “Once completed it will be included on our website with all of the emergency orders.”

The Idaho Supreme Court established an emergency order website for the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month at isc.idaho.gov/Emergency%20Orders.

“I think it is an excellent attempt to be proactive in these trying times,” Gaskill said. “The Supreme Court has taken the lead on trying to keep the courts functioning in these very trying times.”

Suspending the disqualification without cause rules will avoid situations where a county must ask an outside judge to travel and hear a case if the original judge had been disqualified without cause, Gaskill said.

“We are trying to follow the emergency orders from the national government down through the local entities to limit contact as much as possible,” Gaskill said.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.