Each year, the Idaho Supreme Court works with the Legislature and Governor’s Office to fund projects that support the Court’s mission to provide access to justice through the timely, fair, and impartial resolution of cases. The items here are among the Court’s priorities for fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026).

Judicial Resources

The Idaho Supreme Court for FY2026 requests ongoing General Fund support for critical resource needs in three judicial districts. These requests are locally driven — each comes with a letter of support from the county commission where the resources would be chambered.

First Judicial District

Request: New district judge and accompanying court reporter with chambers in Kootenai County.

Kootenai County is a hotbed of population growth in Idaho. The First District has the highest level of filings per district judge across the state, and district-level civil filings recently spiked in the county itself.

Two district judges from elsewhere in the First District currently spend at least three combined weeks out of the month in Kootenai County to help with felony criminal and general civil caseloads. This takes time from their other cases and means visiting judges are covering nearly a full month’s work.

The Idaho Supreme Court requests a General Fund appropriation of $408,100 for these positions, including one-time costs for providing computer equipment.

Fifth Judicial District

Request: New magistrate judge with chambers in Twin Falls County.

In 1990, three magistrate judges served 53,000 residents of Twin Falls County. Today, the same number of judges serve a population that is 80% larger.

The Fifth District handles by far the most cases per magistrate judge in the state, and Twin Falls County has the highest rate in that district. The county relies heavily on visiting magistrate judges to help shoulder the work. However, this is not sustainable with growing caseloads in other parts of the Fifth District.

The Idaho Supreme Court requests a General Fund appropriation of $210,700 for this position, including one-time costs for providing computer equipment.

Seventh Judicial District

Request: New district judge, accompanying court reporter, and new magistrate judge, all with chambers in Bonneville County.

The Seventh Judicial District is Idaho’s largest geographically, covering 10 counties across a region of eastern Idaho. Most of its judges hear cases in multiple counties. The resulting drive time cuts into the time each judge has for their work in a district where the number of filings per judge has been high for several years.

Bonneville County is also rapidly expanding. The number of civil filings is holding strong across all levels of its courts, and judges say the cases before them are becoming more heavily litigated and complex.

The Idaho Supreme Court requests a General Fund appropriation of $618,800 for these positions, including one-time costs for providing computer equipment.