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Judges tell committee courts face recruitment, retention pressures and request additional judges
Summary
A panel of district judges and Administrative Office of the Courts staff told the House Judiciary committee that Idaho courts face falling applicant numbers for district judges, retention challenges, and case-complexity pressures; the judiciary has requested additional district and magistrate judges for several fast-growing districts.
Representatives from the judiciary told the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee that Idaho courts are experiencing recruitment and retention challenges and rising case complexity, and they requested additional judicial resources for some districts.
Jason Spellman, legal counsel for the Administrative Office of the Courts, explained that the court annually assesses judicial needs and that this year the court submitted requests for additional district judges in the First District (Kootenai County) and the Seventh District (Bonneville County), and magistrate-judge requests in other counties as part of the budget process. Spellman said the court aims to balance requests statewide and will present bills and budget requests for justified positions.
Judge Rick Carnaroli, Administrative Judge for the Sixth District, told the committee the number of applicants for district judgeships has fallen in recent years (from an average of 11 to about 4.6 in the last five years). He said many applicants now come from public practice rather than private practice, narrowing the breadth of experience on the bench and creating on‑the‑job learning needs for judges who inherit complex dockets.
Judge Barry McHugh, Administrative Judge for the First District, said the First District has the highest caseload per judge in the state and the highest felony caseload per capita as of 2023. He cited population growth — Kootenai County’s population has grown substantially since 2004 — and travel burdens on judges who cover multiple counties. McHugh said additional judges and new courtroom space will help reduce travel and allow judges more time to prepare and decide cases.
Judge Stephen W. Boyce, Administrative Judge for the Seventh District, described increasingly lengthy and complex trials, including multiple recent high-profile criminal trials that required extended assignments in Ada County to complete jury selection and trial work. Boyce said those trials required significant logistics (for one series of trials, 6,000 jury summons were issued and 1,800 questionnaires processed) and that the district relies on senior judges and administrative staff to cover calendars and keep cases moving when judges are assigned to long trials.
Committee members asked about causes of complexity (civil filings, artificial intelligence–generated briefing, land-use disputes in growing counties) and whether magistrate or district judges handle particular criminal matters; judges clarified that felony-level sexual-abuse and serious criminal matters are assigned to district judges. Representative Garner and others asked how new judge positions are created; Spellman said district judgeships are established by statute (bills being printed to add positions) and magistrate positions are requested through the budget/appropriation process.
Spellman said two senate bills to add district judges — one for Kootenai County in the First District and one for Bonneville County in the Seventh District — were printed recently and expected to receive committee hearings in the Senate. Judges asked legislators to consider the judiciary’s resource requests as the session proceeds.
No formal committee action was taken on the judiciary requests during this meeting; the presentations concluded with members thanking the judges for their work.
