Idaho Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Idaho, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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What did the Idaho Attorney General say about the 2021 ballot initiative to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults in Idaho?
The AG's Certificate of Review recognized that Idaho may set its own marijuana laws but flagged numerous legal problems in the initiative: a likely single-subject-rule violation in its restitution-sta…
Did the Idaho AG identify legal problems with the July 2019 medical marijuana initiative (proposed Chapter 96 of title 39, Idaho Code)?
Yes. AG Wasden flagged that the proposed chapter number (96) was already taken by a 2019 'Maternal Mortality Review' chapter, identified several drafting and vagueness issues (including a 'must not be…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 2019 medical marijuana plus hemp legalization initiative (proposed Chapter 92 of title 39, Idaho Code)?
Yes, in three big areas. AG Wasden warned that bundling a medical marijuana program with hemp legalization likely violated Idaho's single-subject rule under art. XX, § 2 and would be subject to challe…
What did Idaho's AG say about the February 2013 medical marijuana ballot initiative?
The AG identified the same federal preemption issues that defeat any state-only medical marijuana program, plus single-subject concerns under Idaho Const. art. III sec. 16 and several drafting fixes t…
What did Idaho's AG flag about the 2012 medical marijuana ballot initiative before it could go on the ballot?
The AG identified federal preemption (Controlled Substances Act, FHA, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act exclusions), a possible single-subject problem under Idaho Const. art. III sec. 16, internal cross-ref…
If Idaho voters had passed the 2010 medical marijuana initiative, would patients still face federal prosecution for possessing marijuana?
The AG flagged a critical limitation: even if Idaho legalized medical marijuana under state law, federal law would continue to apply. Patients would still face federal Controlled Substances Act prosec…
Could Idaho voters pass a 2010 initiative to nullify federal health insurance laws within the state?
The AG concluded the proposed Idaho Health Insurer Protection Act was likely unconstitutional. A state cannot declare federal laws null and void inside its borders. That power belongs to the federal c…
Could Idaho voters pass a 2010 ballot initiative letting county sheriffs block IRS enforcement of federal income tax laws?
The AG concluded the initiative would violate the Supremacy Clause and was likely void for vagueness. Idaho cannot block federal income tax enforcement, and sheriffs cannot decide which federal laws t…
Could a 2010 Idaho ballot initiative bar federal enforcement of health insurance mandates within Idaho?
The AG flagged the initiative's drafting ambiguities, the 'indirect effect' nullification clauses that left scope indefinable, signature-collection violations under § 34-1804, and noted that potential…
Could a 2010 Idaho ballot initiative require local governments to pay landowners 120% of value plus costs whenever zoning rules change land use?
The AG raised concerns about drafting (better placed as separate statutory sections rather than a single new section), the conflict with constitutional police powers, federal preemption of provisions …
Could a 2010 Idaho ballot initiative bar federal deployment of the Idaho National Guard outside U.S. borders?
The AG concluded the initiative was unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution's Militia Clauses and federal statute give Congress authority to call National Guard units to active federal duty. The Idaho…
Could Idaho voters create a state-run electronic currency and 'private market exchange' through a 2010 ballot initiative?
The AG concluded the proposed Idaho-controlled currency system would likely violate the U.S. Constitution. The Coinage Clause and the prohibition on state-issued bills of credit reserve money creation…
Could an Idaho ballot initiative declare federal statutes unenforceable in Idaho if they don't cite a specific enumerated power of Congress?
No. The AG concluded the proposed nullification initiative was clearly unconstitutional. The Supremacy Clause makes federal law binding on state judges, and the authority to declare federal laws uncon…
Could an Idaho ballot initiative exempt Idaho-made firearms, accessories, and ammunition from federal regulation?
No. The AG concluded the proposed Idaho Firearms Freedom Act was clearly unconstitutional. Federal regulation of firearms reaches intrastate manufacture under the Commerce Clause, the Supremacy Clause…
What did the Idaho AG say about the 2010 'Idaho Right to Protection Act' ballot initiative on self-defense, gun tracking, and home privacy?
The AG concluded the proposed initiative had no clear legal goal: it would be placed in the criminal code but defined no crime and set no punishment, its self-defense language redundantly tracked exis…
Could an Idaho ballot initiative require federal officers to obtain the county sheriff's written permission before making any arrest, search, or seizure in Idaho?
No. The AG concluded the initiative was clearly unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause: a state cannot condition federal law-enforcement activity on a county sheriff's permission, criminalize fed…
Could Idaho exempt in-state nutritional and therapeutic products from federal regulation through the Health Supplements and Therapeutics Protection Act ballot initiative?
No. The AG concluded the proposed initiative would conflict with the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other federal drug statutes, would be preempted under the Supremacy Clause, and that limit…
Could a 2008 Idaho ballot initiative require all debts, fines, taxes, and contracts to be paid only in gold or silver coin?
No. The AG concluded the 'Jubilee Initiative' was preempted by federal law. Article I, § 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the states, the exclusive power to determine what is legal tende…
Did the Idaho AG approve a 2008 ballot initiative banning new coal and nuclear power plants in Idaho without statewide voter approval?
Mixed. The AG noted the coal-plant ban was effectively redundant because Idaho's existing zero-mercury rule (IDAPA 58.01.01.199) already prohibited new coal-fired generation. The nuclear provisions ra…
Does the federal National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 preempt Idaho's requirement that insurance holding companies obtain a solicitation permit before marketing exempt private offerings of federally covered securities to Idaho investors?
The AG concluded NSMIA preempts the Idaho solicitation-permit requirement for insurance holding companies offering federally covered securities under Rule 506 of Regulation D. Section 18(a) of NSMIA b…
Could a 1997 Idaho ballot initiative ban the 'reburial' of plutonium and require written accident analyses for state air-quality permits, when the proposal lacked the basic structure of operative legislation?
The AG concluded the initiative was not implementable as written: it failed to designate any state agency to act, used pivotal terms like 'reburial' and 'this plutonium' without definition, and ran in…
Could an Idaho county levy property tax on land inside an Indian reservation when the land is owned in fee by an individual Indian, not held in trust by the United States?
Yes. Once the federal government issued a fee patent removing alienability restrictions, the land became subject to county ad valorem taxation regardless of the owner's tribal membership or its locati…
Could a 1996 Idaho ballot initiative require legislative and voter approval of any agreement to receive additional radioactive waste in Idaho, and could it retroactively invalidate the October 1995 INEL settlement agreement among the Governor, Attorney General, the Department of Energy, and the Navy?
Probably not. The AG flagged that the proposed referendum-style approval mechanism conflicted with how the Idaho Constitution uses the referendum (as a 'veto' rather than a confirming vote), and the 1…
Can an Idaho city or county hand out a cable TV franchise, regulate the rates the cable company charges, and collect a franchise fee, without waiting for the legislature to pass a special cable statute?
Yes for cities, almost certainly. Probably yes for counties too. Idaho's general municipal-franchising and home-rule statutes already cover cable TV alongside taxis, buses, and garbage hauling. Federa…
Can Idaho require employers operating on tribal reservations to carry workers' compensation, and can the state enforce that requirement against tribal governments themselves?
The 1988 AG opinion concluded that 40 U.S.C. § 290 extends Idaho's workers' compensation laws to all federal lands within the state, including reservations, and reaches non-tribal employers there. Tri…
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Attorney general opinions in Idaho are written by the Idaho Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.