BOISE, ID – The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners voted to be represented by outside legal counsel hired by the Idaho Department of Lands – not Attorney General Raúl Labrador, who is also a member of the land board.
During a Tuesday meeting at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, the board voted to approve a new legal representation policy that states, “The land board shall receive its legal counsel through attorneys employed by the (Idaho Department of Lands).”
The new policy also states, “The land board shall be represented by its legal counsel in all courts and before all administrative tribunals or bodies of any nature.”
The policy also states that the legal counsel shall provide updates to the land board on pending and potential litigation.
Previously, Idaho’s attorney general had served as the legal counsel for the land board.
That meant Labrador had been able to provide legal guidance to the land board, vote on land board policies and represent the land board in court.
Idaho Attorney General Labrador votes against new Land Board policy
Labrador cast the lone vote against approving the new legal representation policy, which he said is contrary to the law and contrary to the state’s constitution.
“They’ve been trying to do this for a long time because they don’t like to be told ‘no’,” Labrador told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting adjourned. “As you saw earlier in the meeting, they don’t like to follow the law. So when somebody stands up and tells them you’re not following the law, they seem to object to that.”
The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners, which is often simply referred to as the land board, is made of five statewide elected officials in Idaho – the governor, attorney general, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction and state controller.
The land board provides direction for the Idaho Department of Land’s management of about 2.5 million acres of state endowment lands.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little supported the new legal representation policy, saying it aligns with Senate Bill 1292, a law the Idaho Legislature passed in 2024.
The law states that the Idaho Department of Lands will be represented by general counsel hired by the department, subject to approval by the land board. The law specifically states that the legal counsel shall be independent from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Labrador said he told Idaho legislators at the time that the legal representation changes in the law were unconstitutional.
“I suggested to the Legislature they were unconstitutional, because the department is an instrumentality,” Labrador said Tuesday. “I think there seems to be a misunderstanding of what an instrumentality is. We’re trying to have the tail wag the dog here. Instrumentality means that they’re an appendage to the land board.”
During a March 21, 2024, meeting of the House Resources and Conservation Committee, Labrador used different terms when discussing instrumentality.
“At the time the Idaho Department of Lands was created, it was created as an instrumentality of the land board,” Labrador said in 2024. “What that means is that they are one and the same.”
Meanwhile, Little said Tuesday that adopting the new legal representation policy ensures the land board, collectively, all has the same common legal counsel.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
