District of Idaho

Pursuant to General Order 247, the District of Idaho requires the filing of documents in ECF including the filing of Civil Complaints and Removals.

You will need the following to file a civil case in the District of Idaho:

• Civil Cover Sheet (JS 44)
• Complaint
• Filing Fee: You will be prompted during filing the complaint to enter a credit card number for the fee payment.
• Summons (AO 440)

The standard Summons shall be prepared for a civil proceeding and electronically filed as an attachment to the Complaint.  The Clerk will issue the Summons and email them to the submitting party.

If you are unable to submit your Summons at the time of filing, you may submit your Summons by emailing the docket clerks.  We recommend you email all four (4) of the docket clerks to ensure a timely response in the event the docket clerk for your case is unavailable.

You will need the following to file a complaint for review of social security case in the District of Idaho:

• Civil Cover Sheet (JS 44)
• Petition for Review
• Filing Fee:  You will be prompted during filing the petition to enter a credit card number for the fee payment.
• State Court documents (Complaint, state court docket, service documents, answers, pending motions)

Note:  To file the Petition, under the Complaints and Other Initiating Documents menu, you will select the Notice of Removal option. 

When entering parties, you will also add counsel for all parties who have appeared in the State Court case (both Pla and Dft).

The State Court documents should be attachments to the Petition for Removal.  Each one should be a separate attachment, and each attachment should be specifically described (i.e. State Court Complaint, State Court Docket, Service Documents)

Example:

Your Main Document will be the Petition for Removal.  State Court documents should be attached as: 

• Attachment 1) Complaint
• Attachment 2) State Court Docket
• Attachment 3) Service Documents
• Attachment 4) Any answers
• Attachment 5) Pending Motions

You will need the following to file a complaint for review of social security case in the District of Idaho:

• Civil Cover Sheet (JS 44)
• Filing Fee:  You will be prompted during filing the petition to enter a credit card number for the fee payment.
• Statement of Social Security Number form

Note:  To file the Complaint, under the Complaints and Other Initiating Documents menu, you will select the Complaint for Review of Social Security option.

Outside parties do not have access to file a sealed case, therefore, the Clerk's Office will open the case for you.  You should send your documents to the *docket clerks.  You are encouraged to also call the Clerk's Office and inform them of your pending case filing.  This will alert them that your case is ready for processing.

You will need the following to file a case:

• Civil Cover Sheet (JS 44)
• Initiating Document (complaint, petition etc)
• Filing Fee
• Summons (AO 440)

The standard Summons shall be prepared for a civil proceeding and electronically filed as an attachment to the Complaint.  The Clerk will issue the Summons and email them to the submitting party.

A motion to file case as sealed shall be filed.  A proposed order shall be submitted to the presiding judge.

The filing fee can be paid by either sending a check or money order via U.S. Postal Service, or in person at any of our Intake counters.

The filing attorney will be notified via email by the docket clerk when the case is opened and assigned a case number and judge.

As long as the case remains sealed, all filings should be sent to the *docket clerk for entry onto the docket.  You are required to serve pleadings on all parties as the ECF system will not send a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) out on sealed cases.

Unsealing the case: 

• A Motion to Unseal should be emailed to the *docket clerk for the case for them to enter onto the docket.
• A proposed order shall be sent to the appropriate judges proposed order box.

* We highly recommend sending these documents to all four docket clerks to ensure prompt attention.

Ex Rel Action:

To open an Ex Rel action, follow the instructions under Filing a Civil Case.

Enter "US ex rel" in the party text field for plaintiff.

Qui Tam Action:

To open a Qui Tam case, an action filed under the False Claims Act, by law must be filed under seal, follow the instructions under Filing a Sealed Case.

To file an Action under Idaho Code 610(2), a Motion to Waive or Set Bond Amount should be filed before the Complaint.  The filing party will need the following:

• Motion to Waive or Set Bond Amount
• Proposed Order
• Civil Cover Sheet (JS 44)
• Complaint
• Filing Fee:  You will be prompted during filing the complaint to enter a credit card number for the fee payment.
• Summons (AO 440)

A Civil Case should be opened, the parties and case information shall be entered into ECF.

Instead of filing the Complaint next, the Motion to Waive or Set Bond Amount should be filed.  The Complaint, Cover Sheet and Summons shall be attachments to the Motion.

When the Motion is ruled upon, the order will direct the plaintiff to file the Complaint and/or Bond. 

Southern Division:
Ada, Adams, Blaine, Boise, Camas, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Owyhee, Payette, Twin Falls, Valley, Washington

Northern Division:
Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone

Central Division:
Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce

Eastern Division:
Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Cassia, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, Minidoka, Oneida, Power, Teton.

There are three divisional offices within the District of Idaho: Boise, Coeur d'Alene, and Pocatello. All hearings for Central Division cases are held in Coeur d'Alene.

When opening a new civil case, the first step is to select the correct divisional office.

For a Complaint, the office is determined by:

1)  the county of the defendant, or

2)  if the defendant is out-of-state, the county of the plaintiff, or

3)  if neither 1 or 2 apply, the county in which the incident occurred occasioning the law suit.

In a Notice of Removal, you must select the divisional office where the court for the original case is located.

You may check the map of offices and divisions to verify your selection.

Reference:  28 USC § 1391

Docket clerks are assigned cases by the terminal end digit of the case number.  See the chart below to find the docket clerk for a case.  You are, however, welcome to call any of the docket clerks with your filing questions.