City of Boise v. Ada County

• Citation: 147 Idaho 794,215 P.3d 514
• Decision Date: 25 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 35432.,35432.
• Parties: In re Facilities and Equipment Provided by the City of Boise. CITY OF BOISE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ADA COUNTY and Board of Ada County Commissioners, Respondents.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Idaho

215 P.3d 514

147 Idaho 794

In re Facilities and Equipment Provided by the City of Boise CITY OF BOISE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ADA COUNTY and Board of Ada County Commissioners, Respondents.

No. 35432.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

August 25, 2009.

Boise City Attorney's Office, Boise, and Cooper & Larsen, Pocatello, for appellant. Gary L. Cooper argued.

Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Boise, for respondent. Sherry A. Morgan argued.

J. JONES, Justice.

The City of Boise (the City or Boise City) appeals a decision by the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District denying the City's petition to vacate an order requiring it to provide suitable and adequate quarters for a magistrate's division of the district court (1980 Order or Order). We affirm.

I.

In 1969 the Idaho Legislature enacted several pieces of court reform legislation. See 1969 Idaho Sess. Laws chs. 100-28, pp. 344-95. Among other things, the legislation established the magistrate's division of the district court. See I.C. § 1-2201. In doing so, the legislation eliminated various lower courts that existed prior to the law, including probate courts, police courts, and justice of the peace courts, and combined their functions into a single magistrate's division. See I.C. § 1-103. Under the restructured court system, counties are responsible for providing quarters, facilities, equipment, staff, and supplies for the magistrate's division.¹ See I.C. § 1-2217. Upon order of a majority of district judges in a judicial district, however, a city may be made responsible for providing quarters, facilities, equipment, staff, and supplies for a magistrate's division of the district court. See I.C. § 1-2218. Idaho Code sections 1-2217 and 1-2218, the provisions establishing this scheme, provide:

§ 1-2217. Facilities and equipment provided by county.

Each county in the state shall provide suitable and adequate 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 shall provide for the staff personnel, supplies, and other expenses of the magistrate's division.

§ 1-2218. Facilities and equipment provided by city

Any city in the state shall, upon order of a majority of the district judges in the judicial district, 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.

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. Idaho Code section 31-3201A establishes a schedule of fees to be imposed on individuals found guilty of felony, misdemeanor, and infraction offenses. Id. Pursuant to the statute, fees collected for such convictions are apportioned to either the county or the city, depending on which entity provided the court facilities. The statute provides:

The clerk of the district court ... shall charge, demand and receive the following fees for services rendered by him in discharging the duties imposed upon him by law:

(b) A fee of seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($17.50) shall be paid, but not in advance, by each person found guilty of any felony or misdemeanor, except when the court orders such fee waived because the person is indigent and unable to pay such fee. If the magistrate court facilities are provided by the county, five dollars ($5.00) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer for deposit in the district court fund of the county; and twelve dollars and fifty cents ($12.50) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer who shall pay such fees to the state treasurer for deposit in accordance with subsection (p) of this section. If the magistrate court facilities are provided by a city, five dollars ($5.00) of such fee shall be paid to the city treasurer for deposit in the city general fund, two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) of such fee shall be paid to the city treasurer for deposit in the city capital facilities fund for the construction, remodeling and support of magistrate[] court facilities, and ten dollars ($10.00) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer who shall pay such fees to the state treasurer for deposit in accordance with subsection (p) of this section.

(c) A fee of sixteen dollars and fifty cents ($16.50) shall be paid, but not in advance, by each person found to have committed an infraction or any minor traffic, conservation or ordinance violation.... If the magistrate court facilities are provided by the county, five dollars ($5.00) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer for deposit in the district court fund of the county, and eleven dollars and fifty cents ($11.50) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer, who shall pay such fees to the state treasurer for deposit in accordance with subsection (p) of this section. If the magistrate court facilities are provided by a city, five dollars ($5.00) of such fee shall be paid to the city treasurer for deposit in the city general fund, two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) of such fee shall be paid to the city treasurer for deposit in the city capital facilities fund for the construction, remodeling and support of magistrate court facilities, and nine dollars ($9.00) of such fee shall be paid to the county treasurer who shall pay such fees to the state treasurer for deposit in accordance with subsection (p) of this section.

I.C. § 31-3201A(b) & (c) (emphasis added).

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 facility housed support personnel, equipment, and supplies for two magistrate judges and was used to process misdemeanor and traffic violations. All other magistrate's division functions were housed in facilities provided by Ada County in the Ada County Courthouse.² With the exception of the magistrate judges, all workers at the Kootenai Street facility were Boise City employees.

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.³ Felony arraignments were also conducted there. Pursuant to Idaho Code section 31-3201A, Boise City received the statutory fees for all convictions 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.⁴ 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. On August 12, 1994, the district judges granted the petition and entered an order requiring the cities of Garden City and Meridian to provide suitable and adequate quarters for a magistrate's division of the district court. By the time proceedings in this matter were initiated in September 2007, neither Garden City nor Meridian had complied with the order.

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.

In anticipation of completion of the new courthouse, Boise City and Ada County entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on October 1, 1999. In addition to providing for the transfer of the City's Barrister employees to the County, the agreement outlined Boise City's continuing obligation to provide facilities, equipment, personnel, supplies, and expenses for a magistrate's division of the district court. Pursuant to the MOA, once the magistrate's division was consolidated in the new courthouse, the City would fulfill its obligations under the 1980 Order by reimbursing the County for...