Idaho Court Of Appeals

	Idaho Court of Appeals
	Court information
Judges:	4
Founded:	1980
Salary:
	Judicial selection
Method:	Nonpartisan election of judges
Term:	6 years

The Idaho Court of Appeals was established in 1980 as the intermediate appellate court in Idaho.^[1] The court hears cases assigned to it by the Idaho Supreme Court, except capital murder convictions and appeals from the Public Utilities Commission or Industrial Commission which must be heard by the Idaho Supreme Court. Appellants may petition the Idaho Supreme Court to review an Idaho Court of Appeals decision, but the Idaho Supreme Court is not required to grant such a petition.

The Idaho Court of Appeals has three judges and a chief judge who are elected in nonpartisan elections to renewable six-year terms. Cases are heard by three-judge panels.

Published opinions of the Idaho Court of Appeals can be found here (criminal opinions) and here (civil opinions).

Judges[edit]

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
David Gratton	January 1, 2009 - Present	Butch Otter
Jessica Lorello	2017 - Present	Butch Otter
Molly Huskey	July 2, 2015 - Present	Butch Otter
Amanda Brailsford	2019 - Present	Butch Otter

Judicial selection[edit]

Judges of the Idaho Court of Appeals are elected in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms and must seek re-election if they wish to remain on the court. To learn more about these elections, visit the Idaho judicial elections page.^[3]

The chief judge of the court of appeals is appointed by the chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court and serves in that capacity for two years.^[3]

Qualifications[edit]

According to Idaho Code § 1-2404, no person shall be appointed or elected to the office of judge of the court of appeals unless that person:

Has attained the age of 30 years at the time of appointment or election
Is a citizen of the United States
Is registered to vote in Idaho
Shall have been admitted to the practice of law for at least 10 years prior to taking office
Has been admitted to the practice of law in Idaho for at least two years^[4]

Elections[edit]

2022[edit]

See also: Idaho intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

The term of one Idaho intermediate appellate court judge will expire on January 2, 2023. The one seat was up for nonpartisan election on May 17, 2022. A runoff has been scheduled for November 8, 2022.

General election

General election for Idaho Court of Appeals

Incumbent Molly Huskey won election in the general election for Idaho Court of Appeals on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Molly Huskey (Nonpartisan)	100.0	221,365

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 221,365
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020[edit]

See also: Idaho intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

The term of one Idaho Court of Appeals justice expired on January 4, 2021. The one seat was up for nonpartisan election on May 19, 2020. A runoff election was scheduled for November 3, 2020. A full term on the court is six years.

Judges with expiring terms[edit]

This is a list of the justices who had to stand for nonpartisan election in 2020 in order to remain on the bench. Justices could choose not to stand for election.

■ Amanda Brailsford

2018[edit]

See also: Idaho intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

The terms of two Idaho Court of Appeals judges expired on January 6, 2019. These judges stood for re-election in 2018 in order to remain on the bench.

2016[edit]

See also: Idaho judicial elections, 2016

Candidates[edit]

Molly Huskey's seat[edit]

■ Molly Huskey (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Election results[edit]

Idaho Court of Appeals, Judge Huskey's Seat, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Molly Huskey Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	136,347
Total Votes (938 of 938: 100%)		136,347
Source: Idaho Secretary of State Official Results

2014[edit]

Unopposed	Judge Sergio Gutierrez (Gutierrez seat)

See also: Idaho judicial elections, 2014

2012[edit]

Candidate	Incumbent	Retention vote:	Retention Vote %
GrattonDavid Gratton A	Yes		100%A
MelansonJohn Michael Melanson A	Yes		100%A

See also: Idaho judicial elections, 2012

Ethics[edit]

The Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Idaho. It consists of five overarching canons:

“

Canon 1: A Judge Shall Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary.
Canon 2: A Judge Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in Activities.
Canon 3: A Judge Shall Perform the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially and Diligently.
Canon 4: A Judge Shall So Conduct the Judge’s Extra-Judicial Activities as to Minimize the Risk of Conflict With Judicial Obligations.
Canon 5: A Judge or Judicial Candidate Shall Refrain From Inappropriate Political Activity.^[5]^[6]

”

The full text of the Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges[edit]

Judges in Idaho may be removed in one of two ways:

The Idaho Judicial Council may investigate a complaint against an Idaho judge and then recommend to the supreme court that the judge should face discipline, removal, or retirement. The supreme court may then review the recommendation and investigate further before determining whether to reject the recommendation, or order discipline, removal or retirement of the judge.
Impeachment by a majority vote of the Idaho House of Representatives and conviction by a two-thirds vote of the Idaho State Senate.^[7]

State profile[edit]

Demographic data for Idaho
	Idaho	U.S.
Total population:	1,652,828	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	82,643	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	91.7%	73.6%
Black/African American:	0.6%	12.6%
Asian:	1.3%	5.1%
Native American:	1.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.6%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	11.8%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.5%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	25.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$47,583	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	16.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Idaho. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in Idaho

Idaho voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

More Idaho coverage on Ballotpedia

Elections in Idaho
United States congressional delegations from Idaho
Public policy in Idaho
Influencers in Idaho
Idaho fact checks
More...

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Idaho Court of Appeals. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Idaho Court of Appeals - Google News

External links[edit]

State of Idaho Judicial Branch, "Court of Appeals Judges" Select "About Us" from the drop-down menu then "Court of Appeals Judges"
Idaho Secretary of State, "List of Judges"

Footnotes[edit]

↑ Justia - Idaho Statutes, "ID Code § 1-2403 (2013)," accessed July 7, 2014
↑ This may vary for the chief judge.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Idaho," accessed September 4, 2015
↑ Idaho State Legislature, "Idaho Statutes: Title 1, Court and Court Officials," accessed May 17, 2016
↑ Idaho Judicial Council, "Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed May 23, 2015
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ National Center For State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Removal of Judges," accessed May 23, 2015

Idaho courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Idaho • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Idaho

State courts:

Idaho Supreme Court • Idaho Court of Appeals • Idaho District Courts • Idaho Magistrate Division

State resources:

Courts in Idaho • Idaho judicial elections • Judicial selection in Idaho

[1] Justia - Idaho Statutes, "ID Code § 1-2403 (2013)," accessed July 7, 2014

[2] This may vary for the chief judge.

[gen-3] 3.0 ^3.1 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Idaho," accessed September 4, 2015

[4] Idaho State Legislature, "Idaho Statutes: Title 1, Court and Court Officials," accessed May 17, 2016

[5] Idaho Judicial Council, "Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed May 23, 2015

[quotedisclaimer-6] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[7] National Center For State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Removal of Judges," accessed May 23, 2015

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