Committee approves OAH rules but excepts two AI sections and site-visit provision

Brian Nichols, Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings, presented pending updates to the Idaho rules of administrative procedure, including provisions aimed at addressing the use and misuse of artificial-intelligence evidence and broad procedural clarifications. Nichols described drafting that borrows from other jurisdictions and said the rules aim to provide "bumpers" for presiding officers confronting novel AI uses.

Committee members pushed back on the scope of certain AI provisions and on section 5.15, which permits a presiding officer to view premises and property. Representative Schurz and others said they were uncomfortable granting broad discretion for AI sanctions and for administrative judges to conduct site visits that could involve property access. Representative Schurz moved to approve the docket with exceptions for sections 11, 12 and 5.15; the substitute motion carried and the docket was approved with those exceptions. Nichols said the rules were intended to be procedural and that policy choices about AI might ultimately be better addressed legislatively, but he asked the committee to provide tools presiding officers can use when AI presents unfamiliar problems. "We have seen submissions by parties, including attorneys, that are clearly the product of AI... They've included all of the kinds of hallucinations that you've heard news items about," Nichols said.