How to Find Idaho Court Records (2026)

In person. Go to the Clerk of the District Court in the county where the case was filed. Bring the case number if you have it, or the party names and approximate filing year. Most courthouses have a public terminal for searching the index at no charge, and copies are paid at the counter — cash, check, or card depending on the county.

By mail. Most clerks post a court-records-request form on the county website. Include:

• the case number, or the full names of the parties and the approximate year filed;
• exactly which documents you need;
• whether you need plain or certified copies; and
• payment or a request for a fee quote, plus a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want the copies mailed back.

Call the clerk's office first to confirm the current per-page fee. Turnaround varies by county and whether the file has to be pulled from storage.

Online. The iCourt Portal at mycourts.idaho.gov lets you search the case index and, for many cases, view the register of actions for free. Document images are not uniformly available online; certified copies always require a request to the clerk.

Records older than the online index. Idaho's statewide case management system generally covers cases from the 1990s forward. Older files may be on paper or microfilm in county storage, and the clerk may charge a search fee to locate them.

Idaho court records are presumed open under Idaho Court Administrative Rule 32 (I.C.A.R. 32), which governs public access to judicial records statewide. Several categories are not available to the public:

• Sealed records. A court can seal a record under I.C.A.R. 32; once sealed, it is not open to examination, inspection, or copying except by the parties and their attorneys, unless the court orders otherwise.
• Exempt information within otherwise public files. Unredacted Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, driver's license numbers, protected addresses, and certain minors' identifying information are excluded from public access even in an open case.
• Non-conviction records. Under Idaho Code § 67-3004, a person may ask the Idaho State Police to expunge records of an arrest or citation that did not result in a conviction, typically after a waiting period.
• Juvenile records. Juvenile court records may be sealed or expunged once the person reaches age 18 under Idaho Code § 20-525A, with narrow exceptions for later proceedings.
• Presentence reports, pretrial risk assessments, and mental-health or protective-order material are confidential by rule even in cases that are otherwise public.

A request to inspect a sealed or exempt record uses the court's own request form and is decided by the custodian or a judge, generally within three working days (up to ten if more time is needed under I.C.A.R. 32). There is no general public-records-act override for judicial records — access to court files runs through the court rules, not Idaho's public records law.