ID H0782

Increases Judicial Council membership from 7 to 11 permanent members and removes the adjunct member provision, consisting of 6 attorney members (1 district judge, 1 magistrate judge, 4 nonjudicial attorneys in civil defense, civil plaintiff, criminal defense, and criminal prosecution) and 4 non-attorney members appointed by the governor.

Changes Judicial Council member term length from 6 years to 4 years, with existing members confirmed by Senate as of July 1, 2022 continuing until their terms expire; allows governor to designate shorter initial terms for newly added members to stagger appointments.

Requires Idaho State Bar to make good faith efforts to solicit applications and feedback when nominating nonjudicial attorneys for council membership, and requires nominated attorneys to certify they meet practice area requirements for 5 years preceding application.

Updates judge salary provisions by changing salary calculations from fixed dollar amounts to percentage-based formulas relative to supreme court justice salary: court of appeals judges at 95%, district judges at 90%, and magistrate judges at 85%.

Makes Judicial Council rating scores and candidate questionnaires public records, and requires the council to disclose written information or comments to applicants at least 48 hours before interviews; effective July 1, 2022.