--- name: id-ada description: > Use when drafting or filing civil documents in the Ada County District Court — the Fourth Judicial District, sitting in Boise, Idaho's largest and highest-volume trial court. Triggers include "Ada County District Court", "file in Ada County", "sued in Ada County", "Boise courthouse", "Fourth Judicial District", "Fourth District Idaho", "Ada County Magistrate Division", "Ada County small claims", "Ada County case number", "Boise District Court e-filing", "iCourt Ada County", and "Ada County civil filing". Covers the District Court and its Magistrate Division, the general-vs-limited civil jurisdictional split, the $5,000 Magistrate Division / Small Claims cap, mandatory iCourt e-filing, the Fourth Judicial District local rules, and Ada case-number conventions. Layer on top of `id-statewide-format`. version: 0.1.0 --- # Ada County District Court (Fourth Judicial District, Boise) > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** These notes describe the venue's procedural > mechanics as a drafting aid, not legal advice. Local rules, > administrative orders, and judge-specific practices change; verify > with the clerk and the current Fourth Judicial District local > rules before relying on anything here. Use this skill in addition to `id-statewide-format` when the matter is a **civil** case in the **Ada County District Court**, which sits in **Boise** as the trial court of the **Fourth Judicial District**. Ada County is Idaho's most populous county and its District Court is the state's largest by caseload. ## The court and the district Idaho's trial court is a single unified **District Court**, organized into **seven judicial districts**, each containing a **Magistrate Division**. Ada County is the seat of the **Fourth Judicial District**, which also covers **Boise, Elmore, and Valley** counties. A civil action filed in Ada County is captioned in the **District Court of the Fourth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, in and for the County of Ada** — see `id-statewide-format` for the full caption. ## District Court vs. Magistrate Division — the jurisdictional split The same District Court has two tiers, and routing the case to the right tier matters: - **District Court (district judge)** hears civil claims **over $5,000**, plus equity, larger civil disputes, and felonies. - **Magistrate Division (magistrate judge)** hears civil claims of **$5,000 or less** (**I.C. § 1-2208**), and — **regardless of the amount in controversy** — forcible entry / unlawful detainer (eviction), probate, misdemeanors, traffic infractions, juvenile matters, and **all family-law actions**. - The **Small Claims Department** handles claims up to **$5,000** (**I.C. § 1-2301**) with **no punitive damages and no pain-and-suffering**; venue lies where the defendant resides or the claim arose. Small claims is a simplified, attorney-optional track. Confirm the amount in controversy and subject matter before choosing the tier; a misfiled case can be transferred. For family matters in the Magistrate Division, see `id-family-court` and `id-family-law`. ## Local rules Practice in this court is governed by the **statewide Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure (I.R.C.P.)** and **Idaho Rules of Evidence (I.R.E.)**, as supplemented by the **Fourth Judicial District local rules** and the court's standing **administrative orders**. The local rules and standing orders address civil case management, motion and calendar practice, scheduling, and chambers-copy requirements. Do not hard-code rule numbers, page limits, or motion-calendar mechanics from memory — read the current Fourth Judicial District local rules and administrative orders in `id-law-references` (or confirm with the clerk and the court's website) before relying on them. ## E-filing — iCourt E-File (mandatory posture) Idaho's statewide electronic-filing portal is **iCourt E-File** (the Tyler Technologies **Odyssey File & Serve** platform), governed by the **Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service (I.R.E.F.S.)**. - **E-filing is mandatory for attorneys** (I.R.E.F.S. 4(a)). Ada County was an **early mandatory-adoption county** for iCourt, so represented civil filings here run through iCourt E-File. - **Self-represented individuals may e-file (optional)** under I.R.E.F.S. 4(b), but **once a self-represented party opts in, they are bound to e-file for the life of the case.** The Odyssey **Guide & File** assisted self-help front end is available. - **E-filing constitutes consent to electronic service** (I.R.E.F.S. 17), and documents must meet the **PDF / size requirements** of I.R.E.F.S. 6. Confirm the current document-type selections, the filing-fee / fee-waiver workflow, and whether your document type permits any alternative channel before assembling a packet. See `id-file-packet`. ## Case management and scheduling After the case is at issue, the court manages civil cases through a **scheduling order** setting discovery cutoffs, disclosure deadlines, dispositive-motion dates (note **I.R.C.P. 56** requires a summary-judgment motion to be filed **at least 90 days before trial**), and the trial date. **Calendar your obligations from the scheduling order entered in your specific case**, and confirm the assigned judge's individual practices, motion-call procedure, and any chambers-copy requirement. See `id-schedule-hearing`, `id-hearings`, and `id-deadlines`. ## Case-number conventions An Ada County case number follows Idaho's pattern — a county / district designator, a year, a case-type code, and a sequential number (commonly seen as `CV__-__-_____` for civil). **Confirm the exact case-type code and number format the Ada County clerk assigns** for your cause of action; the case-type code drives docket routing and tier assignment. Once assigned, the case number anchors the caption per `id-statewide-format`. Do not guess the code — verify it against the clerk's intake practice. **Agent behavior:** before drafting a Notice of Hearing, setting a page-limited memorandum, or calendaring a deadline, read the current Fourth Judicial District local rules and standing orders in `id-law-references`, the scheduling order entered in the case, and the assigned judge's practices. Confirm the District-Court vs. Magistrate-Division tier, the iCourt document-type selection, and any chambers-copy requirement with the clerk. ## Composition - For statewide format and the Idaho caption: `id-statewide-format` - For the first responsive pleading (21-day answer): `id-first-30-days` - For drafting motions / notices / orders / affidavits: `id-draft-motion`, `id-draft-note`, `id-draft-order`, `id-draft-declaration` - For computing deadlines (I.R.C.P. 2.2): `id-deadlines` - For scheduling a hearing and oral argument: `id-schedule-hearing`, `id-hearings` - For assembling and e-filing a packet: `id-file-packet` - For discovery: `id-discovery` - For other venues: `id-bonneville` (Idaho Falls / Seventh District), `id-county-courts` (other counties and districts) - For family-law matters in the Magistrate Division: `id-family-court`, `id-family-law` - For pro se conventions: `id-pro-se` ## References - `id-law-references` — Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure, Idaho Rules of Evidence, I.R.E.F.S., Idaho Code, and the Fourth Judicial District local-rules corpus - Fourth Judicial District local rules and administrative orders; the Idaho Supreme Court / Idaho Judicial Branch (isc.idaho.gov) for the statewide iCourt E-File system (confirm current versions with the clerk and the court's website)