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Idaho Supreme Court
Idaho Supreme Court
Established	1863 - Territorial; 1890 - State
Location	451 W. State St.; Boise, Idaho, U.S.
Composition method	non-partisan state-wide staggered elections
Authorised by	Idaho State Constitution
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Judge term length	6 years; 4 years (Chief Justice)
Number of positions	5
Website	Official website
Chief Justice
Currently	G. Richard Bevan
Since	January 1, 2021

The Idaho Supreme Court is the state supreme court of Idaho and is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices.

The decisions of the Idaho Supreme Court are binding on all other Idaho state courts. The only court that may reverse or modify its decisions is the Supreme Court of the United States.

The court moved into its present building in 1970; it was previously housed in the nearby state capitol building.

Justices

Justices are elected in non-partisan statewide elections and serve staggered six-year terms. Elections are held in the state primary, now in the spring, with run-off elections in November. The Chief Justice is selected by an election among the five justices and term length for that office is four years.^[1] Prior to 1983, the position went to the justice with the least amount of time remaining in his term.^[2]

The court originally had three justices; it was expanded to five in 1921.

Current justices

Justice	Age	Born	Joined	Chief Justice	Term ends	Appointed by	Law school
G. Richard Bevan, Chief Justice	65	(1959-05-05)May 5, 1959	September 27, 2017	2021–present	2030	Butch Otter (R)	BYU
Robyn Brody	54	(1970-02-13)February 13, 1970	January 2, 2017	–	2028	— ^[a]	Denver
Gregory W. Moeller	61	(1963-05-01)May 1, 1963	January 3, 2019	–	2026	Butch Otter (R)	BYU
Colleen Zahn	51	(1973-10-07)October 7, 1973	July 1, 2021	–	2028	Brad Little (R)	Idaho
Cynthia Meyer	–	–	December 2023	–	2026	Brad Little (R)	Utah

^ Not appointed, won nonpartisan election for open seat

Women on the Supreme Court

The first female justice on the Idaho Supreme Court was Linda Copple Trout, appointed in 1992 by Governor Cecil Andrus and elected in 1996 and 2002. She remains as the state's only female chief justice (1997–2004). The second female justice was Cathy Silak, appointed by Andrus in 1993 and elected in 1994. She lost her reelection bid in 2000 to Dan Eismann and became the first incumbent justice from the court to be defeated since 1944.^[3]^[4]

After Trout's retirement in 2007, no women were on the court until the election of Robyn Brody in 2016 to a vacant seat, the first by a female; she is the only justice on the current court not first appointed. Colleen Zahn joined the court in 2021, appointed by Governor Brad Little; Brody and Zahn ran unopposed in 2022. With Little's appointment of Cynthia Meyer in 2023, the court currently has a female majority.

List of chief justices

Name	Years
G. Richard Bevan	2021–present
Roger Burdick (2)	2017–2020
Jim Jones	2015–2017
Roger Burdick	2011–2015
Dan Eismann	2007–2011
Gerald Schroeder	2004–2007
Linda Copple Trout	1997–2004
Charles McDevitt	1993–1997
Robert Bakes	1989–1993
Allan Shepard	1987–1989
Charles Donaldson	1983–1987

Election by peers began in 1983.^[2]

Video coverage

The Idaho Supreme Court first permitted live video and audio coverage from its chambers in late 1978.^[5]

References

^ Russell, Betsy Z. (July 15, 2015). "Justice Jim Jones to be Idaho Supreme Court's next chief justice, as of Aug. 1". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Donaldson is first elective chief justice". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. January 4, 1983. p. 4D.
^ "Otter emerges from GOP crowd in Idaho primary". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. May 24, 2000. p. B5.
^ "Statewide judicial vote by county". State of Idaho. Secretary of State, Election Division. May 23, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
^ "Idaho Supreme Court will open its doors to cameras". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1978. p. 14A.