United States District Court for the District of Idaho

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• Judges

District of Idaho Ninth Circuit Chief: Lynn Winmill Judges: 2 Posts: 2 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Lodge Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Larry Boyle Dale • Williams Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the District of Idaho is the United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Idaho (except for the part of the state within Yellowstone National Park, which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming). Court is held in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, and Pocatello. Appeallete jursidiction is handled by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

The United States Attorney for the District of Idaho represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, OR.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of Idaho's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has zero vacancies out of their two posts. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of Idaho (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of Idaho consists of all the counties in the state of Idaho.

There are four court divisions, with the two main court divisions covering the following counties:

The Central Division, covering Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce Counties

The Eastern Division, covering Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Cassia, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, Minidoka, Oneida, Power and Teton Counties

The Northern Division, covering Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties

The Southern Division, covering Ada, Adams, Blaine, Boise, Camas, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Owyhee, Payette, Twin Falls, Valley and Washington Counties

Court is held in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, and Pocatello.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, OR.

Cases heard

The District of Idaho has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	1975	2200	4175	2308	1867	10.1	8.7	104(7.1%)	0	29
2009	2018	2172	4190	2201	1989	11.2	9.2	61(4%)	0	32
2008	1983	2187	4170	2143	2027	2018	8.8	9.1	6.8	29
2007	1896	2293	4189	2197	1992	8.0	8.6	134(9.3%)	0	28
2006	2041	2300	4341	2464	1877	8.3	9.5	125(9%)	0	33

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The District of Idaho has four separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Boise Division	James A McClure Federal Building and United States Courthouse 550 W. Fort St. Boise, ID 83724	(208) 334-1361
Pocatello Office	Eastern Division 801 E Sherman St. Pocatello, ID 83201	(208) 478-4123
Moscow Office	Central Division 220 E 5th St - Rm 304 Moscow, ID 83843	(208) 882-7612
Coeur d'Alene Office	Northern Division 6450 N. Mineral Dr Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815	{208} 665-6850

History

Court history

The District of Idaho was established by Congress on January 29, 1861 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time 5 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 6 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Idaho:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
July 3, 1890	26 Stat. 215	1
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions for the District of Idaho.

• Idaho State Medicaid Reimbursement  Judge(s):Lynn Winmill      *INCLUSION, INC. etc. v. RICHARD ARMSTRONG, and LESLIE CLEMENT 1:09-cv-00634-BLW

Federal judge Lynn Winmill of the United States District Court for the District of Idaho ordered Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare and its Division of Medicaid to reevaluate its reimbursement rates for caregivers after a lawsuit from five corporations alleged that the state had failed to properly reimburse the groups at current rates. The judge wrote in his ruling, "The law is clear that budgetary concerns cannot form the sole basis for reimbursement rates." The rates were originally established in 2006 and no longer covered the costs of the services provided, as the corporations successfully argued.

• Prisoners rights case  Judge(s):Lynn Winmill      *Bowcut v. Idaho State Board of Corrections et al 1:06-CV-208
On July 22, 2009, Judge Winmill dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Idaho prison inmate who claimed his civil rights were violated. Leslie Peter Bowcut, an inmate, sued the Idaho Department of Corrections after being transferred to a Texas prison claiming that his civil rights were violated. The judge dismissed the lawsuit after finding evidence that other prisoners were being treated equally.

• Idaho grazing case  Judge(s):Lynn Winmill      *Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management Civ. No. 09-0507-E-BLW
Judge Winmill presided in a case involving grazing allotments in Idaho. The judge ruled on October 20, 2009, that an Idaho farmer must keep his sheep off of federal grazing lands in a effort to protect wild sheep. The judge cited that the dwindling population of wild sheep on federal lands in Idaho led to the ruling.

• Idaho charter schools  Judge(s):Edward Lodge      *Nampa Classical Academy v. Goesling Case No. CV09-427-S-EJL

Judge Lodge on May 17, 2010, dismissed a lawsuit filed against the State of Idaho by a charter school that planned to use the Bible as part of a test. The judge found that requirements sought by the charter school violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the basis of separating church and state. Attorneys representing the charter school made no indication if they will appeal the ruling.

Federal courthouse

Four separate courthouses serve the District of Idaho.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Idaho judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• News: Idaho prepared to ask for third federal judge, February 2, 2012

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Idaho Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of Idaho Official Website
• Judges of the District of Idaho
• Opinons of the District of Idaho

References

District of Idaho Ninth Circuit Chief: Lynn Winmill Judges: 2 Posts: 2 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Lodge Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Larry Boyle Dale • Williams Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of Idaho has 2 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Lynn Winmill. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Lynn Winmill	1952	Blackfoot, ID	Clinton	8/14/1995 - Present	1999 - Present	Harold Ryan	Idaho State U., B.A., 1974	Harvard Law School, J.D., 1977
Judge Edward Lodge	1933	Caldwell, ID	H.W. Bush	11/27/1989 - Present	1992 - 1999	Marion Callister	College of Idaho, B.A., 1957	U. of Idaho, LL.B., 1961

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Senior judges

No senior judges.

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Chief Magistrate Judge Candy Dale	5/30/2008-Current	College of Idaho, 1979	U. of Idaho Law, 1982
Magistrate Judge Mikel H. Williams	1984-Current	U. of Idaho, 1966	U. of Idaho College of Law, 1969
Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush	10/01/2008 - Present	U. of Idaho, B.A., 1979	George Washington U. Law, J.D., 1983

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Fredrick Taylor	1964 - 1971
Harold Ryan	1988 - 1992
Raymond McNichols	1971 - 1981
Chase Clark	1954 - 1964
Marion Callister	1981 - 1988
Edward Lodge	1992 - 1999

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. Frank Sigel Dietrich
2. J. Blaine Anderson
3. James Helmick Beatty
4. Charles Cheatham Cavanah
5. Marion Callister
6. Chase Clark
7. Raymond McNichols
8. Harold Ryan
9. Fredrick Taylor