From the Idaho Capital Sun

Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s office on Thursday sent the Idaho Capital Sun 238 pages of public records from Idahoans, sought by her to inform her education task force.

But most of it was covered in black boxes with the word “REDACTED.”

The delivery followed six weeks of back-and-forth with the lieutenant governor’s chief of staff. And by the end of the day Friday, McGeachin had taken to social media, accusing the Sun of trying to get personal information about people who responded to her appeal for stories of indoctrination in schools.

“Not only are they requesting the comments, but they are also demanding the names and email addresses of those who made the comments,” she wrote in a Facebook post on her official lieutenant governor page. “We have been making an effort to comply with their requests in a manner that is respectful of Idahoans and their personal information, but they are insistent that we give them YOUR personal information. I believe this would violate your rights and I am doing everything I can to protect your information.”

What is the ‘indoctrination’ task force?

The lieutenant governor has assembled a task force to review claims of indoctrination in Idaho’s public schools. That task force met for the first time May 27, taking no public comment.

McGeachin announced the task force April 8, saying it would “protect our young people from the scourge of critical race theory, socialism, communism and Marxism.”

“As I have traveled around the state and spoken with constituents and parents, it has become clear to me that this is one of the most significant threats facing our society today,” she said in the announcement. “We must find where these insidious theories and philosophies are lurking and excise them from our education system. … Idahoans are increasingly frustrated by the apparent lack of awareness and leadership coming from the state on these issues.”

McGeachin on April 21 announced on her website that she was seeking comments from the public regarding what Idaho schools teach students. She solicited the comments via Google Form.

Reporter requests the comments Idahoans submitted to McGeachin’s office

That day, the Idaho Capital Sun requested a copy of the public records created by that form — a public record that is maintained by the lieutenant governor’s office as a spreadsheet.

The Sun requested “a copy of the Google Sheet data from the Lt. Gov.’s Education Task Force Feedback Form, as the record exists at the time this public record request is processed. Please provide the data in its raw spreadsheet format.”

McGeachin’s Chief of Staff Jordan Watters responded to the request on May 4, saying the office had received about 3,600 comments. He provided a general breakdown of some of the data — the level of education to which comments applied (e.g. 25.1% applied to high school) and the position of the person submitting comments (e.g. 31.4% chose “concerned citizen”).

But Watters said the lieutenant governor’s office would redact names, email addresses and “personally identifying information” contained in the written comments submitted by the public. He estimated $560 in costs to redact the information, which the Idaho Capital Sun would have to pay to receive the incomplete records.

The Sun immediately responded, asking for the legal justification to redact information.

Watters responded 16 days later, saying: “Idaho code section 74-109(3) exempts from disclosure ‘personal identifying information relating to a private citizen contained in a writing to or from a member of the Idaho Legislature,’ The Education Task Force is co-chaired by Rep. Priscilla Giddings, who is a member of the Idaho Legislature. As Rep. Giddings has access to the information submitted through the feedback form, personally identifying information submitted through that form qualifies as ‘a writing to a member of the Idaho legislature,’ and is thus exempt from disclosure.”

Public comments are public records in Idaho, with few exceptions

The Sun and other media outlets routinely request and receive public comments. For example, the Sun in April requested copies of comments submitted to Gov. Brad Little regarding a bill on voter initiatives. The governor’s office provided the public records — days earlier than the deadline to do so in Idaho’s public records law.

When the lieutenant governor’s office refused to provide records, the Sun immediately reached out to the Idaho Press Club’s First Amendment Committee.

Stoel Rives attorney Wendy Olson sent the lieutenant governor’s office a letter on behalf of the Press Club and Sun reporter Audrey Dutton, saying that exemption did not apply and demanding the office send the unredacted records to Dutton by May 27 — the day of the task force’s first meeting.

Instead of providing the records, Watters sent an email. “We are currently working with the (Attorney General’s) office and should have a more substantive response for you soon,” he wrote.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Office acts as the primary law firm for the state. It has deputy attorneys general who work with state offices to provide legal counsel. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden also publishes a manual that describes Idaho’s public records laws, exemptions and the public’s recourse when those laws aren’t followed.

The next email came June 2.

“Our office can provide you with a copy of our existing spreadsheet which includes the raw data that you requested,” Watters wrote. “However, our spreadsheet contains additional information, such as narratives and contact information that appear to be outside the scope of your request. If you believe this additional information is within the scope of your original request, please let us know and we will provide you with any information not otherwise exempt from public disclosure.”

The Sun thanked him in advance for providing the full public record as requested.

But the next day, he sent over a file with names, contact information and the entirety of the public comments blacked out.

The lieutenant governor’s office did not include a citation to the Idaho law under which it made the redactions, as required by Idaho’s public records law.

“The written denial for all or part of a request for information must state the statutory authority for the denial, and include a clear statement of the right to appeal and the time for doing so,” according to the Idaho Attorney General’s Public Records Law Manual. “In addition, it is also required that the public agency state ‘that the attorney for the public agency … has reviewed the request or shall state that the public agency or independent public body corporate and politic has had an opportunity to consult with an attorney regarding the request for examination or copying of a record and has chosen not to do so.’”

A lawsuit is the only recourse Idaho’s public records law gives the public and the media if they believe a government entity has wrongfully denied access to public records.

The opinion of the attorney general’s office is that “the only legitimate reason for the agency not to consult with an attorney is that the exemption from disclosure is clear,” the manual says. “If that is the case, the letter of denial should so state. Above all, if there is any doubt about whether the information is exempt from disclosure, it is imperative that the public agency seek legal advice.”

Redactions are a partial denial of a public record request. But McGeachin’s office did not include any of the above statements in its response.

Watters on Friday afternoon said he would have to start over on the Sun’s request, saying the public comments were not in the scope of the Sun’s initial request for the full spreadsheet.

Meanwhile, McGeachin had posted to Facebook, questioning the Sun’s motives for seeking a copy of public comments that will be used to inform a task force on public education:

“Why does the media want YOUR personal information? Do they plan to release it and encourage employers and government agencies to retaliate against Idahoans who have expressed concerns about Idaho’s education system?” she wrote. “I believe that releasing this information would have a chilling effect on YOUR right to communicate your concerns to elected officials in Idaho. I remain committed to taking whatever legal actions are necessary to protect your personal information from being exposed by the media.”

From the Idaho Capital Sun

From the Idaho Press

By BLAKE JONES

BOISE — After investigating whether former U.S. Congressman Raúl Labrador’s appointment to the Central District Health board violated open meeting law, special prosecutor Bryan Taylor “found no evidence” of a legal breach.

The investigation stemmed from concerns that new Republican Ada County commissioners Rod Beck and Ryan Davidson illegally and privately discussed Labrador’s appointment outside of an open meeting in the weeks before they took office.

Kendra Kenyon — the commission’s lone incumbent and Democrat — expressed concerns the two had “teed up” the appointment outside of a quorum when Beck and Davidson introduced their pick for the health board last month, a day after they were sworn in. In response, Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts asked Taylor, the Canyon County prosecutor, to act as a special prosecutor in reviewing the matter.

Taylor dropped the investigation Tuesday, writing, “the Open Meeting Law does not, by its own terms, apply to discussions between candidates for office, commissioners-elect, or private parties,” in a letter to Bennetts. “Accordingly, I have found no evidence that (commissioners) engaged in deliberation towards a decision in violation of the Open Meetings Law.”

Because Beck and Davidson reportedly did not discuss backing Labrador in the 23 hours between their swearing in and announcing their pick for the seat, they did not commit a violation, Taylor wrote. That’s because they weren’t yet in office during related discussions, even though talks occurred after they were elected to the board in November.

After concern was raised, Beck and Davidson agreed to reconsider their pick a week after appointing Labrador, a move Beck said they made “out of an abundance of caution” in light of the investigation. The commissioners again backed Labrador in a subsequent vote, reappointing him 2-1 on party lines. Kenyon supported Dr. Sky Blue, an infectious disease expert.

In light of the commission reconsidering its nomination — a “self-recognition of any potential violation,” Taylor said — he doesn’t believe that “additional enforcement action could lead to any general advantage, additional process, or outcome opportunity not already afforded.”

“The Open Meetings Law treats the transparency of a decision’s process as inseparable from the substantive validity of that decision,” he wrote, “and prioritizes corrective remediation over punitive sanction.”

A majority of county commissioners in the four counties served by CDH approved Labrador’s appointment last week. His first meeting will be Feb. 19.

Labrador, an attorney at Skaug Law in Nampa, served in the Idaho Legislature from 2006 to 2010, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, and as the Idaho Republican Party chairman from 2019 to 2020.

From the Idaho Press

(Boise) – Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and Idahoans for Openness in Government (IDOG) invite the public to attend an online seminar addressing current rules and best practices for open meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporters, public officials and members of the public are invited to attend.

The “IDOG: Open Meetings in the Pandemic” seminar will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m MT on January 7, 2021. Wasden, Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane and IDOG President Betsy Russell will serve as panelists.

The seminar will be hosted on the GoToWebinar platform. Participants can register by visiting https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6596762315239876365. Registrants are encouraged to check system requirements to avoid any connection issues the day of the event.

Together, Wasden and IDOG have conducted 49 open meeting and public records seminars across the state since 2004. The series – held in different parts of the state each year – was postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19. It is expected to resume in 2021 with in-person events in central and eastern Idaho.

From the Idaho Press

By TOMMY SIMMONS

Editor’s note — This story has been updated to reflect the following correction: Officials released the name of the second person in their custody who died after contracting COVID-19.

In a reversal of policy, the Idaho Department of Correction now says it will not identify the people in its custody who die with COVID-19, saying it needs to protect their private medical information.

Department spokesman Jeff Ray confirmed the policy to the Idaho Press in an email.

“Given that we are disclosing when the death is COVID-19 related, we cannot protect the individual’s private medical information if we also release their names,” Ray wrote. “IDOC has determined the only way we can be transparent about COVID-19 related deaths and still protect the private medical information of our residents is to refrain from releasing … the deceased name, but provide notice that it was a COVID-19 related death.”

The department has shifted its stance since July, when it identified Frank Dawson Conover, 65, as the first Idaho inmate to die after contracting COVID-19. In the past, the department has identified people in its custody who have killed themselves or died of natural causes. Ray confirmed in an email Thursday the department has since changed its practice, in reference to people who die with COVID-19.

Officials in September released the name of the second inmate who died after contracting COVID-19. They declined, however, in October to identify the third person who died in department custody after contracting the disease, this time at a private prison in Arizona.

Yet when the Idaho Press asked about the department’s reticence on the October death, Ray didn’t mention private medical concerns — he only said the man’s family asked the department not to release his name.

In an email Tuesday, Ray wrote health officials sanctioned the department’s practice of not releasing the names of inmates who died with COVID-19.

“We have consulted with our State epidemiologists and Health District representatives — they agree with this approach,” Ray wrote. “The health districts (to our knowledge) are not providing identity either.”

From the Idaho Press

From the East Idaho News

by NATE SUNDERLAND

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com joined with a cadre of local, regional and national media Friday in filing a legal objection in the upcoming court proceedings for Chad and Lori Daybell.

The objection is in response to a motion made by Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood to ban video cameras inside the courtroom in preliminary hearings for the couple. Wood’s motion asked Magistrate Judge Faren Eddins to reconsider his previous order, which allowed cameras to livestream the hearings from inside the courtroom.

The crux of Wood’s argument is that broadcasting the preliminary hearing will make it more difficult to find an unbiased jury in Fremont County. In his motion, Wood acknowledges the defendants have rights to a public hearing and the public has rights when it comes to criminal cases. But he says when it comes time to pick a jury, extra time and effort will have to be made for jurors who have viewed the preliminary hearing.

“The motion is not for a closed or sealed hearing, but simply that the preliminary hearing in this case be treated the same as nearly every other preliminary hearing where there are no video cameras in the courtroom,” Wood wrote.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, if Wood’s motion were approved by Eddins it would effectively close the hearing to the public as a very limited number of people are allowed to attend proceedings in person. Since the pandemic started earlier this year, the Idaho Supreme Court has limited public access to courtrooms and most hearings have been held via livestream with Zoom and YouTube.

Without video cameras, and based on the rules in place by the Idaho Supreme Court, there is no way for the public or media to observe the Daybell hearing if Wood’s motion is approved.

On Friday, EastIdahoNews.com jointly hired Idaho Falls attorney Steve Wright to object to the motion. Other media outlets participating include the Post Register, KIFI Local News 8, KPVI NewsChannel 6, The Idaho Statesman, KIVI Idaho News 6, KSL TV 5, Court TV and NBC News.

In his objection, Wright argues that video cameras are necessary for the public to have access to the court system. He affirms the importance of the public being able to view the hearings to ensure transparency and so they can see that justice is being served.

“When the public is aware that the law is being enforced and the criminal justice system is functioning, an outlet is provided for these understandable reactions and emotions,” the objection states. “The unique and remarkable allegations of this case are the very reason that video coverage of the proceedings is vital.”

Even before COVID-19, EastIdahoNews.com and other outlets have used video cameras to cover high profile cases. Last year, a judge allowed cameras in for the preliminary of Brian L. Dripps, the man accused of killing and raping Angie Dodge. In 2015, EastIdahoNews.com recorded the preliminary hearing for Brian Mitchell, a man accused of murdering another man at an Idaho Falls park.

Wood said that broadcasting the hearing could affect the Daybell’s constitutional right to a fair trial but Wright argues that “the State presents no basis why disallowing video coverage will properly balance the Constitutional rights involved.”

“The State of Idaho’s requested remedy is also drastically disproportionate to the Constitutional burdens it imposes. The State would have the entire country, and world, deprived of a critical instrument to facilitate transparency in order to ensure it is more difficult for the residents of Fremont County to witness the judicial process,” Wright writes. “The State of Idaho seeks to use a sledgehammer where the Constitution requires a scalpel.”

Wright ends his two-page objection by saying that if the hearing is effectively closed, the public loses its Constitutional right to observe the court system in action.

“People in an open society do not demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to accept what they prohibited from observing,” Wright writes.

In addition to the objection filed on behalf of the media, Mark Means, Lori Vallow Daybell’s attorney, and John Prior, Chad Daybell’s attorney, have both filed objections to Wood’s motion. You can view the argument from Means here and Prior’s argument here.

The Daybells are facing felony charges in Fremont County after investigators discovered the remains of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan buried in the backyard of Chad’s Salem home. Court records indicate Chad’s hearing will start on Aug. 3 and Lori’s will begin on Aug. 10.

A hearing is scheduled on Wood’s motion for Monday at 2:30 p.m. You can read Wright’s entire motion here.

From the East Idaho News

From the Idaho Press

By BETSY RUSSELL

BOISE — Plans for major tech upgrades to the state Capitol to allow more remote access in the age of COVID-19 won unanimous support from a state panel on Wednesday, including an addition to make sure the deaf and hard of hearing can access the service as well.

“The essence of this request is to ensure that the Legislature’s work is conducted in a transparent manner,” Eric Milstead, Legislative Services Office director, told the governor’s Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee (CFAC) on Wednesday.

“Article 3, Section 12 of the Idaho Constitution prohibits the Legislature from holding sessions in secret,” Milstead said. “And the funding in our request today will enhance the ability of the Legislature to stream its activities to the public, both audio and video, via Idaho Public Television. This includes the Legislature’s committee work and floor sessions.”

Milstead had requested $1,236,000 for the upgrades, but at the urging of Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, CFAC raised the total by $20,000 so it would also cover closed captioning for streaming of interim legislative committee meetings this fall.

Wintrow noted that the director of the Idaho Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing estimates that 200,000 Idahoans are deaf or hard of hearing. The state already provides closed captioning so the deaf and hard of hearing can watch live streams of floor sessions of the full House and Senate, but hasn’t done so for committee meetings in the past.

Milstead noted, “An important component of this upgrade will be to potentially provide more opportunities for the public to testify in committee remotely. We’re driving toward that as a distinct possibility. We’ve got programmers working on that capacity as we speak.”

Wintrow moved to approve the request plus the additional funds for closed captioning, for a total of $1,256,000 from Idaho’s $1.25 billion share of federal coronavirus aid funds under the CARES Act. Her motion passed with unanimous support.

Alex Adams, Gov. Brad Little’s budget director and the chair of CFAC, noted that the panel received a number of emails expressing concerns that the request would allow state legislators to work from home, but not teachers, as Idaho looks to reopen schools in the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the upgrades won’t let lawmakers work from home, he said, and instead are aimed at improving public access to and engagement in the legislative process.

“That’s correct,” Milstead said. “There’s absolutely no funding being requested for personal devices that members could use on their own.”

Milstead said any remote work that lawmakers would do has been discussed as occurring “primarily from their offices in the Statehouse itself,” or from a conference room in the Capitol. That would happen, he said, when, for example, a committee hearing room is so full that social distancing couldn’t otherwise be maintained.

The proposal called for upgrades that would allow for social distancing in the Capitol during legislative meetings this fall and into the future, for remote work, and for a hybrid of the two.

Milstead said they will include installing seven new cameras in seven legislative committee hearing rooms, providing, for the first time, both audio and video streaming capacity from all legislative committee hearing rooms. Currently, all those rooms have audio streaming capacity, but video streaming is available only from two of them, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee’s ornate meeting room on the Capitol’s third floor, the former Idaho Supreme Court chamber; and Room EW42 in the lower level of the House wing, where the House Revenue & Taxation Committee meets.

The upgrades, he said, will “ensure that the public can observe legislative work and also allow the public to participate, regardless of the approach that the Legislature adopts, whether that’s working in simply a socially distancing fashion in the Statehouse, or if it’s a combination of social distancing and perhaps providing for some remote work.”

After the unanimous vote, Adams told Milstead, “Eric, we thank you for your work in bringing forward this proposal. We’ll finalize the paperwork, and you should be able to move forward early next week.”

From the Idaho Press

From Idaho Education News

by CLARK CORBIN

The public was blocked Monday from much of an inaugural meeting of a new State Department of Education committee engaging in the highly charged process of rewriting academic standards.

SDE officials published incomplete information when they provided public notice for the Idaho Content Standards Mathematics Review Committee remote meeting.

Within five minutes of the meeting’s scheduled starting time, Idaho Education News told three SDE officials, including Director of Communications Karlynn Laraway, that the public could not access the meeting. The SDE did not stop the meeting. Forty-six minutes into the meeting, SDE provided passwords providing public access.

SDE officials could have stopped the meeting as soon as they realized there was an access issue, Idaho Press Club Vice President Melissa Davlin said.

“The governor’s March 13 executive order on open meetings specifically says the public must be allowed to attend via video teleconferencing,” Davlin said.

There is significant public interest in the standards committee’s work. Hundreds of people have packed the Statehouse in recent years to provide testimony during the ongoing standards debate.

Earlier this year, the House Education Committee voted to repeal all academic standards in math, science and English before it was overruled by the Senate Education Committee.

Several legislators who were outspoken during the debate now have a seat on the committees rewriting the standards.

The process has such a high profile that at least four committees are looking at the issue — a legislative interim committee that convened last week and three SDE Content Standards Review Committees. The SDE has separate committees for science, English and math standards.

“Now more than ever, the public needs to know what their government agencies are doing,” Davlin said. “We understand the learning curve involved with conducting public meetings via video teleconferencing, but the Idaho Press Club urges officials to err on the side of transparency and follow Idaho’s Open Meeting Laws, including, but not limited to, pausing meetings when there are access issues.”

After Idaho EdNews raised the issue, SDE officials sent a news release including passwords necessary to connect to the meeting. They released that information at 10:46 a.m. Prior to issuing the news release, a SDE spokeswoman provided Idaho EdNews with a password at 10:19 a.m.

The meeting began at 10 a.m. The meeting was already in progress once the public could connect, so it was difficult to tell who was running the meeting, what the format was or who was speaking at a given time.

Committee members later did introduce themselves, although a handful did not respond when called on.

Committee members also stressed the differences between standards and curriculum.

Standards, they said, are what students should be able to know, understand and be able to do.

Curriculum, on the other hand, covers how the standards are taught and the resources and texts used to teach them.

The job of the committee is to rewrite the standards. Local districts and schools make curriculum decisions.

Because much of the meeting happened in secret Monday, it was not clear if any action was taken. The math standards committee is expected to meet again Aug. 3.

Monday’s meeting represented the first step in what is expected to be a time-consuming and intricate process. The committees are expected to produce draft standards in time for the October 2021 State Board of Education meeting.

The standards would then go to the Idaho Legislature during the 2022 session.

From Idaho Education News

From the Idaho Press

By BLAKE JONES

After learning that its previous order to move Ada County back to Stage 3 violated Idaho’s Open Meeting Law, Central District Health’s Board of Health held an emergency meeting Friday to fix the issue.

The board voided the previous order to close bars and limit gatherings to 50 people, which took effect Wednesday, and issued a new, identical one, which is effective immediately.

During the brief meeting Friday, attorney Michael Kane told the board the violation was caused by the lack of advanced notice for the board’s June 20 emergency meeting. Kane said because of the coronavirus’ accelerating spread in Ada County, health district staff recommended that the board act without 24 hours’ advanced notice to the public to avoid “further injury or damage.”

The Open Meeting Law, however, doesn’t require 24 hours’ advanced meeting notice for emergency meetings.

This issue, rather, was the board’s failure to alert the media ahead of Saturday’s meeting, according to Don Day, who runs the independent news site BoiseDev.com and has a content-share agreement with the Idaho Press. Day wrote in an article Friday that he raised the issue about the lack of notice with the health district.

“Idaho State Code requires that agencies notify the media of the emergency meeting,” Day’s article states. “Central District Health did not inform BoiseDev, even though we are on their media list.”

District staff looked into it and determined that “an inadvertent open meeting violation occurred,” Kane told the board Friday. The board, however, did not discuss BoiseDev or the lack of media notice specifically.

Kane did say the notice wasn’t posted online or at the office “due to employees working from home.”

Idaho’s Open Meeting Law requires government agencies, for regular meetings, to give five days’ notice and post an agenda at least 48 hours beforehand. Special meetings only requires 24 hours’ notice.

For emergency meetings, the law only requires that the agency maintains a list of journalists requesting notification of meetings and makes a “good faith effort” to provide advance notice to them.

The Open Meetings Law, found in Title 74, Chapter 2 of Idaho Code, defines an emergency as “a situation involving injury or damage to persons or property, or immediate financial loss, or the likelihood of such injury, damage or loss.”

Friday’s meeting was accessible to the public via online video conference and phone; a meeting notice and agenda were emailed to the media an hour before the meeting started, as well as posted to the district’s website.

REOPENING STAGES

Though Ada County is in Stage 3 per the health district order, the rest of the state remains in Stage 4 of the governor’s Idaho Rebounds reopening plan, which allows all businesses to be open, with guidelines on social distancing and other safety measures.

Central District Health oversees four counties: Ada, Blaine, Elmore and Valley.

After seeing a spike of COVID-19 cases in Ada County this month, the health district on Monday rolled the county back to Stage 3 of reopening, which forced bars to close and limited gatherings to 50 people.

Health district officials said the county’s numbers of infection were higher than they have been since late March and early April, and said the infection rate rivals that of Blaine County’s rate earlier in the pandemic — which at one point had one of the highest rates in the country, the Idaho Press reported earlier this week.

The week of June 7, Ada County saw 51 COVID-19 cases, according to Central District Health. Last week, Ada County logged 273 cases, and as of late afternoon Friday, 583 cases had been reported for the week in the county.