ADA COUNTY, Idaho — The Ada County Courthouse continues struggling to keep up with the growing population.
“We have reached a point, and we have for some time, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate all of the needs,” Administrative Judge Steven Hippler said.
Court data shows jury trials have more than doubled in the last several years. There have been 360 trials so far this year. In 2021, there were 160.
“With the increased population, we don’t always get just the people that are good, law-abiding citizens,” Hippler said.
In addition to growth, he said COVID played a role. Since trials were paused during a portion of the pandemic, prosecutors gave more favorable offers to defendants in hopes of clearing out the jail.
As a result, it encouraged defense attorneys to take more cases to trial once operations returned to normal because of good acquittal rates and hung jury rates.
"Those are the reasons primarily," he said, "population growth and then the dynamics of coming out of COVID, as well as trying more cases and getting better results from the defense perspective."
Hippler said from the beginning that having enough space in the long term was a concern.
The courthouse was built in the early 2000s. Hippler said the plan was to eventually move administration off-site a decade later.
Since that has not happened yet, he said they are scrambling to find space for employees, forcing them to turn unconventional rooms into offices.
They are also scrambling to find space for all the trials. There are roughly 30 courtrooms in the building, although Hippler said calling all of them courtrooms is a stretch.
“They are more of a hearing room that will accommodate one or two lawyers and a judge and the clerk and that’s about it,” he said. “They’re very small and they don’t permit really the use of modern electronics that are incorporated in litigation practice.”
At any given time, he said the Court can accommodate about a half dozen felony criminal trials or a dozen civil trials.
“Not all the judges can go to trial at the same time, and so as a result, to make sure the judges have the opportunity to process their cases and also make sure we’re processing the ones that have the highest need and priority,” he said,” each week I go through all the cases set for trial 2 to 3 weeks down the road and identity if we have more set for trial than we can accommodate, which is almost always the case every week.”
Not going to trial affects the accused, those seeking justice and the attorneys representing them, Hippler said.
“That person is not working, they’re away from their family, they are not producing an income, they are not contributing to the community,” he said. [And] victims of crimes are not getting their day in Court, and the attorneys, whether that’s the prosecutors or public defenders or private attorneys, are getting ready for trial and then not going. So, that’s unnecessary prep time.”
Hippler said it is also frustrating for witnesses when trials are delayed because they already rearranged their schedules to attend.
On the flip side, he said that not having enough courtrooms disproportionately impacts the timeliness of civil disputes like child custody and divorce.
“Those civil cases, frankly, have to take a backseat to the criminal cases when we look at the priorities given the rights of people to have a speedy trial as well as free up space in the trial,” Hippler said.
More trials also impact departments already struggling to cover all the cases. That includes court reporters, which the county has had a difficult time keeping enough of.
Lots of people retired in the last couple of years, court reporter Tiffany Fisher said. A lot of the in-person schools for court reporting have also closed.
Fisher, who previously worked for Ada County, now works in the federal courthouse.
“It's hard to keep up with everything and have everything staffed fully when, when our numbers have grown so much, and then the amount of court reporters, unfortunately, is decreasing," she said.
Hippler has taken steps to increase the number of court reporters. That includes getting creative with technology and changing the system, so court reporters no longer have to report on civil matters outside of trials.
He is also hopeful a courthouse expansion is on the horizon. It just depends on when it climbs up the county's priority list.
“We are blessed to have the current accommodations that we do,” Hippler said. “They are probably the best in the state, and I appreciate that; we just need more of them. [County commissioners] recognize … that there is a need here, it’s just a matter of prioritization … availability of those capital dollars, and so we look forward to working with them when those can be provided in a responsible.”
County commissioners were not available for an interview. But a spokesperson said in an email, “We can always strive to make better use of our courthouse space by using the courts more efficiently - before asking taxpayers for more money. This Board responds to every request the Court makes including hiring more bailiffs and Marshalls, and we work closely with the Trial Court Administrator and Administrative District Judge.”
She listed some of the ways the county has helped.
- In FY23, the Board provided $6.6M for the purchase and renovation of a building for Drug Court
- In FY24, the Board provided $787,000 in ARPA funds to the Drug Court building renovation to replace the HVC system.
- In FY24, the Board provided $1.25M in opioid settlement funds to help cover renovations at the Drug Court building on Elder Street
- In FY24, the Board budgeted $985,000 to remodel the first floor of the courthouse for the Clerk of Court
- In FY25’s preliminary budget, the TCA is receiving $208,00 for courthouse lobby remodel.
“I’m not sure what approach the commissioners could take. They could take the approach of building of their capital fund and using those funds or they theoretically seek bond funds," Hippler said. "[Court services] are such a necessary service for the community in order for us to be able to keep people safe in the community, for us to be ablet to resolve disputes.”
Lack of space is not just an Ada County issue. He said courthouses throughout Idaho, including in Lewiston and Twin Falls, are also being expanded to deal with growth.