Ada Cnty. & the Bd. of Ada Cnty. Commissioners v. City of Garden City

• Court: Idaho Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: J. JONES, Justice.
• Citation: Ada Cnty. & the Bd. of Ada Cnty. Commissioners v. City of Garden City, 155 Idaho 914, 318 P.3d 904 (Idaho 2014)
• Decision Date: 07 February 2014
• Docket Number: 40106.,Nos. 40084,s. 40084
• Parties: ADA COUNTY and the Board of Ada County Commissioners, Plaintiffs–Respondents, v. CITY OF GARDEN CITY, by and through the GARDEN CITY COUNCIL; and City of Meridian, by and through the Meridian City Council, Defendants–Appellants.

155 Idaho 914

318 P.3d 904

ADA COUNTY and the Board of Ada County Commissioners, Plaintiffs–Respondents,

v.CITY OF GARDEN CITY, by and through the GARDEN CITY COUNCIL; and City of Meridian, by and through the Meridian City Council, Defendants–Appellants.

Nos. 40084

40106.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, January 2014 Term.

Feb. 7, 2014.

Moore & Elia, LLP, Boise, for appellant City of Meridian. Michael W. Moore argued.

Garden City Attorney's Office, Garden City, for appellant City of Garden City. Frank Walker argued.

Greg H. Bower, Ada County Prosecuting Attorney, Boise, for respondents. Theodore E. Argyle argued.

J. JONES, Justice.

In 1994, an en banc panel of the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District ordered Garden City and Meridian (the Cities) to provide suitable and adequate quarters for the magistrate's division of the Fourth Judicial District (1994 Order). In addition to providing quarters, the Cities were ordered to provide for the equipment, staff, supplies, and other expenses necessary for the quarters to function properly. The Cities have never complied with the order. In 2010, Ada County brought a declaratory action asking the district judges to find that the 1994 Order is still valid and to require the Cities to comply with it. The Cities responded by filing a motion to vacate the 1994 Order, claiming that the order was invalid because it was entered on an ex parte basis. The en banc panel dismissed Ada County's complaint, holding that a declaratory judgment action is not the appropriate means to determine the validity of the 1994 Order. The panel also denied the Cities' motion to vacate on the grounds that before the 1994 Order was entered, the Cities had received all the process to which they were entitled. The Cities appealed.

I.BACKGROUND

The Idaho Legislature enacted legislation in 1969 to restructure Idaho's court system. Among other things, the legislation combined the functions of probate courts, police courts, justice of the peace courts, and various other lower courts into a single magistrate's division. City of Boise v. Ada Cnty., 147 Idaho 794, 798, 215 P.3d 514, 518 (2009) (citing 1969 Idaho Sess. Laws chs. 100–28, pp. 344–95; I.C. § 1–103 ; and I.C. § 1–2201 ). The reform required each county to provide "quarters for the magistrate's division of the district court, including the facilities and equipment necessary to make the space provided functional for its intended use, and [to] provide for the staff personnel, supplies, and other expenses of the magistrate's division." I.C. § 1–2217. Further, "upon order of a majority of the district judges" in its judicial district, a city must provide such quarters, facilities, equipment and expenses for a magistrate's division. I.C. § 1–2218. "The costs incurred by a county or a city in providing facilities for the magistrate's division are offset through the apportionment" of court-imposed fees. City of Boise, 147 Idaho at 798, 215 P.3d at 518 (citing § 31–3201A).

City of Boise described the Fourth Judicial District's implementation of the reform legislation as follows:

On the day the court reform legislation took effect, January 11, 1971, the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District entered an order requiring Boise City to provide a magistrate's division of the district court. The order stated:

It is hereby Ordered that, pursuant to Section 1–2218, Idaho Code, the City of Boise, Idaho, shall provide suitable and adequate quarters for two magistrates of the Fourth District Court Magistrates Division, including two courtrooms with related facilities and equipment necessary to make the space provided functional for its intended use, and the necessary supplies and non-judicial staff personnel to operate said courts.

To comply with the order, Boise City established magistrate court facilities in an old fire station on Kootenai Street in Boise....

The City's magistrate facilities remained on Kootenai Street until a new facility was opened in August 1981. Construction of the new facility was prompted by an order the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District issued on October 9, 1980. The 1980 Order provided:

Pursuant to the authority of section 1–2218, Idaho Code, the City of Boise City, Idaho, be, and HEREBY IS ORDERED to provide suitable and adequate quarters for a Magistrate's Division of the District Court, including the facilities and equipment necessary to make the space provided functional for its intended use, and shall provide for the staff, personnel, supplies, and other expenses of the Magistrate's Division.

Boise City's new facility—the Barrister facility—consisted of five courtrooms and various equipment, staff, and supplies. By 1983, all misdemeanor and infraction cases filed by Boise City, Ada County, the Idaho State Police, Idaho Fish and Game, and the cities of Meridian, Garden City, Kuna, and Eagle were processed at the Barrister facility....

Boise City initially paid for all of the personnel, equipment, and supplies at the Barrister facility. Over time, however, Ada County began to supplement the Barrister personnel with its own employees. In addition, the Fourth Judicial District Trial Court Administrator began seeking voluntary contributions from other cities within Ada County to help fund the Barrister facility. When the mayors of two of those cities—namely, Garden City and Meridian—declined to contribute, Ada County and Boise City filed a joint petition asking the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District to order contribution.

Id. at 799–800, 215 P.3d at 519–20.

On August 12, 1994, the district judges determined that "the volume of work generated by the processing of citations and complaints through the Magistrate Division of the Fourth District have reached such levels that it is no longer reasonable for the City of Boise and Ada County to bear sole financial responsibility for the processing of citations and complaints issued by other municipalities." Therefore, the panel issued the 1994 Order, requiring Meridian and Garden City to "provide by October 1, 1994 suitable and adequate quarters for the magistrate's division of the Fourth Judicial District, including the facilities and equipment necessary to make the space provided functional for its intended use, and [to] provide for the staff personnel, supplies and other expenses of the magistrate's division." To date, neither Garden City nor Meridian has complied with the 1994 Order.

Nevertheless, Ada County moved forward with plans to construct a new courthouse:

In 1998, Ada County began developing plans for a new Ada County Courthouse and Administration Building. The building was designed to house all Fourth District Court functions, except juvenile proceedings. Consequently, the building would eliminate the need for Boise City's Barrister facility....

Construction of the new Ada County Courthouse and Administration Building was substantially completed in January 2002. By February 2002, all of the functions of the magistrate's division, excluding only juvenile proceedings, were consolidated in the new facility. Since that time, the functions previously housed at the Barrister facility have remained in the new courthouse.

City of Boise, 147 Idaho at 800, 215 P.3d at 520. Garden City and Meridian currently utilize the magistrate's division facilities and services provided by Ada County, but do not pay for any portion of the costs for the same.

In July of 2010, Ada County contacted the mayors of the Cities and stated that it "was unable to continue providing Magistrate Court Services without payment from [the Cities] as required by the August 12, 1994 Order." Both cities rebuffed Ada County's demand. In December of 2010, Ada County brought a complaint against the Cities seeking declaratory relief. In 2011, the Cities filed a motion to vacate the 1994 Order. In 2012, an en banc panel of district judges of the Fourth Judicial District dismissed Ada County's complaint because it determined that a declaratory judgment action was "not the appropriate mechanism to consider the issues" raised by Ada County. The panel also denied the Cities' motion to vacate the 1994 Order. The panel then ordered the Trial Court Administrator to meet with representatives from the Cities "to prepare a plan and a schedule on how the Cities will comply with the 1994 Order." The panel entered a final judgment dismissing the case and the Cities appealed.

II.THE APPEAL DOES NOT PRESENT A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY.

The Cities assert that the 1994 and 2012 en banc panels erred by failing to afford them adequate procedures to safeguard their interests. In particular, they point out that they received no opportunity to appear and be heard before entry of the 1994 Order. Boiled down to its essence, the thrust of the Cities' case is that the 1994 Order was entered in violation of their procedural rights and they seek a declaration that it is invalid.

The difficulty with the Cities' case is that the record does not disclose that they have suffered any harm as a result of the 1994 Order in the almost 20 years from the date of its entry. They have not been required to make any expenditures or to construct any facilities pursuant to the 1994 Order. Although the 1994 Order requires them to provide quarters and facilities for the magistrate's division and Ada County has sought payment for their use of the county courthouse, the Cities have not been required to pay one penny or to provide any quarters or facilities for a magistrate's division. Furthermore, there is no plan, proposal, or schedule from any interested party regarding what the Cities must, might or could do to comply with the 1994 Order. Therefore, we are not presented with a justiciable controversy.

In Harris v. Cassia Cnty., 106 Idaho 513, 516, 681 P.2d 988, 991 (1984), this Court stated a general rule that "a declaratory judgment can only be rendered in a case where an actual or justiciable controversy exists." The elements of a justiciable...