IDOG

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has sent a letter to the Idaho attorney general asking him to take enforcement action against Idaho State University for an alleged violation of the state’s open meeting law.

In the letter, Idaho Freedom Foundation Executive Director Wayne Hoffman tells Attorney General Lawrence Wasden he is not asking him to extract civil penalties. He says is he is merely hopeful that through the state’s action, “government transparency and openness will be restored at ISU.”

From the Idaho State Journal

SALMON — A May 24 meeting of the Salmon City Council that was called in order to fire Salmon Police Chief Jim Spain violated Idaho’s open meeting law, according to an investigation of the incident by an independent prosecutor.

“It is my determination that this meeting was not properly conducted,” Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney John Bujak wrote in a letter to Lemhi County Prosecutor Bruce Withers and Salmon City Attorney John McKinney.

From the Post Register

The state of Washington won today in the U.S. Supreme Court – and so did Idaho – as the high court upheld Washington’s Public Records Act and its requirement that signatures on a referendum petition be public, not secret. Idaho has similar laws, and joined 22 other states in filing “friend of the court” briefs backing Washington’s position. The group “Protect Marriage Washington” sued to prevent the release of the names of those who signed Referendum 71, the state’s unsuccessful measure that sought to overturn a same-sex domestic partnership law, arguing that the Washington public records law was unconstitutional because making the signers’ names public could subject them to harassment for exercising their right to free speech.

From Eye on Boise/The Spokesman-Review

Prosecutor John Bujak’s efforts to protect the privacy of his $598,000 agreement to handle misdemeanor prosecutions for Nampa got more complicated Thursday.

A few hours after a hearing on a lawsuit seeking to force Bujak to disclose banking records concerning the contract, a city attorney sent a letter to the prosecutor and county commissioners, saying Nampa wants to change its contract to make sure none of its money goes into the prosecutor’s pocket.

From the Idaho Statesman

Canyon County Prosecutor John Bujak seems baffled about the controversy surrounding his private contract with the city of Nampa.

Let’s clear up the confusion.

Bujak’s contract treats $598,000 of public money like private money. It introduces profit as a motivating factor in dispensing criminal justice. It seems motivated to help Bujak’s personal financial plight – and not necessarily stretch taxpayer dollars.

Editorial from the Idaho Statesman

John Bujak says he doesn’t understand why his contract to prosecute Nampa misdemeanor cases has raised red flags with some county residents.

“I’m saving Nampa money. I’m saving the county money,” Bujak said. “I would think people would be thrilled.”

From the Idaho Statesman

daho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa has announced fines against two groups that launched last-minute campaign attacks against an Idaho Supreme Court candidate without following the disclosure requirements of the state’s Sunshine Law. “Idaho Citizens for Justice” is being fined $1,300, and “Idaho Citizens for Commonsense Solutions” is being fined $600; the latter group provided half the funding for the former, which paid for nearly $40,000 in ads and fliers attacking Judge John Bradbury and touting sitting Justice Roger Burdick, against whom Bradbury was running in last week’s election; Burdick won.

From Eye on Boise

People who access court documents electronically from federal district courts through the PACER system pay 8 cents a page for the privilege, but until this spring, they got the first $10 worth of copies in a year without charge. Now, the Judicial Conference of the United States has approved a change: Users will not be billed unless they’ve racked up more than $10 in PACER charges in a quarter.

From Eye on Boise/The Spokesman-Review

McCALL, Idaho – More than 60 people gathered for the IDOG open meetings and public records seminar in McCall on May 19, 2010, the 22nd such seminar held around Idaho since 2004.

A government-accountability group says a southeastern Idaho school board held an illegal secret meeting over salary cuts.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation, a free-market advocate, vowed to lodge a complaint in state court against Pocatello’s District 25 school board, whose trustees held a three-hour executive session Saturday morning, followed by a vote to cut administrative salaries by 6.9 percent.

From the Associated Press