Idaho's most important elections are won in the primaries. If you want to have a say in how Jerome County is run, you have to vote in the primary.
In Jerome County, commissioners have met in executive (closed) sessions with economic development groups and others. That raises serious questions under Idaho’s Open Meeting Law.
Good government does not need back rooms. It needs a microphone, a camera, and the confidence that daylight is not going to show anything the public could not already be trusted to see.
In Jerome County, commissioners have met in executive (closed) sessions with economic development groups and other outside parties. Whether any particular closed session violated Idaho’s Open Meeting Law is a question only a full investigation can answer — and under current practice, the person responsible for that investigation is the county attorney, who is often in the meeting.
A commissioner cannot responsibly allege a statutory violation from the campaign trail; that is a legal conclusion for a court or the Attorney General. What a commissioner can do is point out the pattern and commit to running the process differently.
Doing business in the open is not a slogan. It is a daily practice. It means meetings with outside groups go on the public calendar. It means policy conversations happen on the record. It means drafts are published and hearings are scheduled when working people can attend.
I watched decisions get made without listening to the people they affect. That is a basic question of whether county government still answers to its residents, or only to the people who happen to be in the room that day.
The statute’s default is open. Closed session is the exception, not the starting point.
The specific § 74-206 subsection is named in the motion before every vote to close.
Final action returns to open session. Executive session is not a voting room.
Independent review when complaints are filed. The referee does not play on either team.
Every claim on this page is grounded in public law, public records, or directly observable public conduct.
"Meetings should be out in the open. Every meeting, on the record, every time."— Jerry Holton