TITLE 74

TRANSPARENT AND ETHICAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER 1

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

74-106.  Records exempt from disclosure — Personnel records, personal information, health records, professional discipline. The following records are exempt from disclosure:

(1)  Except as provided in this subsection, all personnel records of a current or former public official other than the public official’s public service or employment history, classification, pay grade and step, longevity, gross salary and salary history, including bonuses, severance packages, other compensation or vouchered and unvouchered expenses for which reimbursement was paid, status, workplace and employing agency. All other personnel information relating to a public employee or applicant, including but not limited to information regarding sex, race, marital status, birth date, home address and telephone number, social security number, driver’s license number, applications, testing and scoring materials, grievances, correspondence and performance evaluations, shall not be disclosed to the public without the employee’s or applicant’s written consent. Names of applicants to classified or merit system positions shall not be disclosed to the public without the applicant’s written consent. Disclosure of names as part of a background check is permitted. Names of the five (5) final applicants to all other positions shall be available to the public. If such group is less than five (5) finalists, then the entire list of applicants shall be available to the public. A public official or authorized representative may inspect and copy his personnel records, except for material used to screen and test for employment.

(2)  Retired employees’ and retired public officials’ home addresses, home telephone numbers and other financial and nonfinancial membership records; and active and inactive member financial and membership records and mortgage portfolio loan documents maintained by the public employee retirement system. Financial statements prepared by retirement system staff, funding agents and custodians concerning the investment of assets of the public employee retirement system of Idaho are not considered confidential under this chapter.

(3)  Information and records submitted to the Idaho state lottery for the performance of background investigations of employees, lottery retailers and major procurement contractors; audit records of lottery retailers, vendors and major procurement contractors submitted to or performed by the Idaho state lottery; validation and security tests of the state lottery for lottery games; and business records and information submitted pursuant to sections 67-7412(8) and (9) and 67-7421(8) and (9), Idaho Code, and such documents and information obtained and held for the purposes of lottery security and investigative action as determined by lottery rules, unless the public interest in disclosure substantially outweighs the private need for protection from public disclosure.

(4)  Records of a personal nature as follows:

(a)  Records of personal debt filed with a public agency pursuant to law;

(b)  Personal bank records compiled by a public depositor for the purpose of public funds transactions conducted pursuant to law;

(c)  Records of ownership of financial obligations and instruments of a public agency, such as bonds, compiled by the public agency pursuant to law;

(d)  Records with regard to the ownership of or security interests in registered public obligations;

(e)  Vital statistics records;

(f)  Military records as described in and pursuant to section 65-301, Idaho Code;

(g)  Social security numbers; and

(h)  The following personal data identifiers for an individual may be disclosed only in the following redacted format:

(i)   The initials of any minor children of the individual;

(ii)  A date of birth in substantially the following format: XX/XX/birth year;

(iii) The last four (4) digits of a financial account number in substantially the following format: XXXXX1234;

(iv)  The last four (4) digits of a driver’s license number or state-issued personal identification card number in substantially the following format: XXXXX350F; and

(v)   The last four (4) digits of an employer identification number or business’s taxpayer identification number.

(5)  Information in an income or other tax return measured by items of income or sales that is gathered by a public agency for the purpose of administering the tax, except such information to the extent disclosed in a written decision of the tax commission pursuant to a taxpayer protest of a deficiency determination by the tax commission, under the provisions of section 63-3045B, Idaho Code.

(6)  Records of a personal nature related directly or indirectly to the application for and provision of statutory services rendered to persons applying for public care for people who are elderly, indigent or have mental or physical disabilities or participation in an environmental or a public health study, provided the provisions of this subsection making records exempt from disclosure shall not apply to the extent that such records or information contained in those records are necessary for a background check on an individual that is required by federal law regulating the sale of firearms, guns or ammunition.

(7)  Employment security information, except that a person may agree, through written, informed consent, to waive the exemption so that a third party may obtain information pertaining to the person, unless access to the information by the person is restricted by subsection (3)(a), (b) or (d) of section 74-113, Idaho Code. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 74-113, Idaho Code, a person may not review identifying information concerning an informant who reported to the department of labor a suspected violation by the person of the employment security law, chapter 13, title 72, Idaho Code, under an assurance of confidentiality. As used in this section and in chapter 13, title 72, Idaho Code, "employment security information" means any information descriptive of an identifiable person or persons that is received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to or collected by the department of labor or the industrial commission in the administration of the employment security law.

(8)  Any personal records, other than names, business addresses and business phone numbers, such as parentage, race, religion, sex, height, weight, tax identification and social security numbers, financial worth or medical condition submitted to any public agency pursuant to a statutory requirement for licensing, certification, permit or bonding.

(9)  Unless otherwise provided by agency rule, information obtained as part of an inquiry into a person’s fitness to be granted or retain a license, certificate, permit, privilege, commission or position and private association peer review committee records authorized in title 54, Idaho Code. Any agency that has records exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this subsection shall annually make available a statistical summary of the number and types of matters considered and their disposition.

(10) The records, findings, determinations and decisions of any prelitigation screening panel formed under chapters 10 and 23, title 6, Idaho Code.

(11) Complaints received by the board of medicine and investigations and informal proceedings, including informal proceedings of any committee of the board of medicine, pursuant to chapter 18, title 54, Idaho Code, and rules adopted thereunder.

(12) Records of the department of health and welfare or a public health district that identify a person infected with a reportable disease.

(13) Records of hospital care, medical records, including prescriptions, drug orders, records or any other prescription information that specifically identifies an individual patient, prescription records maintained by the board of pharmacy under sections 37-2726 and 37-2730A, Idaho Code, records of psychiatric care or treatment and professional counseling records relating to an individual’s condition, diagnosis, care or treatment, provided the provisions of this subsection making records exempt from disclosure shall not apply to the extent that such records or information contained in those records are necessary for a background check on an individual that is required by federal law regulating the sale of firearms, guns or ammunition.

(14) Information collected pursuant to the directory of new hires act, chapter 16, title 72, Idaho Code.

(15) Personal information contained in motor vehicle and driver records that is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of chapter 2, title 49, Idaho Code.

(16) Records of the financial status of prisoners pursuant to subsection (2) of section 20-607, Idaho Code.

(17) Records of the Idaho state police or department of correction received or maintained pursuant to section 19-5514, Idaho Code, relating to DNA databases and databanks.

(18) Records of the department of health and welfare relating to a survey, resurvey or complaint investigation of a licensed nursing facility. Such records shall, however, be subject to disclosure as public records as soon as the facility in question has received the report and no later than the fourteenth day following the date that department of health and welfare representatives officially exit the facility pursuant to federal regulations. Provided however, that for purposes of confidentiality, no record shall be released under this section that specifically identifies any nursing facility resident.

(19) Records and information contained in the registry of immunizations against childhood diseases maintained in the department of health and welfare, including information disseminated to others from the registry by the department of health and welfare.

(20) Records of the Idaho housing and finance association (IHFA) relating to the following:

(a)  Records containing personal financial, family, health or similar personal information submitted to or otherwise obtained by the IHFA;

(b)  Records submitted to or otherwise obtained by the IHFA with regard to obtaining and servicing mortgage loans and all records relating to the review, approval or rejection by the IHFA of said loans;

(c)  Mortgage portfolio loan documents;

(d)  Records of a current or former employee other than the employee’s duration of employment with the association, position held and location of employment. This exemption from disclosure does not include the contracts of employment or any remuneration, including reimbursement of expenses, of the executive director, executive officers or commissioners of the association. All other personnel information relating to an association employee or applicant, including but not limited to information regarding sex, race, marital status, birth date, home address and telephone number, applications, testing and scoring materials, grievances, correspondence, retirement plan information and performance evaluations, shall not be disclosed to the public without the employee’s or applicant’s written consent. An employee or authorized representative may inspect and copy that employee’s personnel records, except for material used to screen and test for employment or material not subject to disclosure elsewhere in the Idaho public records act.

(21) Records of the department of health and welfare related to child support services in cases in which there is reasonable evidence of domestic violence, as defined in chapter 63, title 39, Idaho Code, that can be used to locate any individuals in the child support case except in response to a court order.

(22) Records of the Idaho state bar lawyer assistance program pursuant to chapter 49, title 54, Idaho Code, unless a participant in the program authorizes the release pursuant to subsection (4) of section 54-4901, Idaho Code.

(23) Records and information contained in the time-sensitive emergency registry created by chapter 20, title 57, Idaho Code, together with any reports, analyses and compilations created from such information and records.

(24) Records contained in the court files or other records prepared as part of proceedings for judicial authorization of sterilization procedures pursuant to chapter 39, title 39, Idaho Code.

(25) The physical voter registration application on file in the county clerk’s office; however, a redacted copy of said application shall be made available consistent with the requirements of this section. Information from the voter registration application maintained in the statewide voter registration database, including age, will be made available except for the voter’s driver’s license number, date of birth and, upon a showing that the voter comes within the provisions of subsection (30) of this section or upon showing of good cause by the voter to the county clerk in consultation with the county prosecuting attorney, the physical residence address of the voter. For the purposes of this subsection, good cause shall include the protection of life and property and protection of victims of domestic violence and similar crimes.

(26) Information in the files of the health care directive registry maintained by the department of health and welfare under section 39-4515, Idaho Code, is confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person other than to the person who executed an advance care planning document or the revocation thereof and that person’s surrogate decision-maker, to the person who registered an advance care planning document or revocation thereof, and to physicians, hospitals, medical personnel, nursing homes, and other persons who have been granted access to the documents in the registry.

(27) Records in an address confidentiality program participant’s file as provided for in chapter 57, title 19, Idaho Code, other than the address designated by the secretary of state, except under the following circumstances:

(a)  If requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency; or

(b)  If directed by a court order, to a person identified in the order.

(28) Except as otherwise provided by law relating to the release of information to a governmental entity or law enforcement agency, any personal information, including but not limited to names, personal and business addresses and phone numbers, sex, height, weight, date of birth, social security and driver’s license numbers, or any other identifying numbers or information related to any Idaho fish and game licenses, permits and tags unless written consent is obtained from the affected person.

(29) Documents and records related to alternatives to discipline that are maintained by the Idaho board of veterinary medicine under the provisions of section 54-2118(1)(b), Idaho Code, provided the requirements set forth therein are met.

(30) The Idaho residential street address and telephone number of an eligible law enforcement or judicial officer and such officer’s residing household members as provided for in chapters 58 and 62, title 19, Idaho Code, except under the following circumstances:

(a)  If directed by a court order, to a person identified in the court order;

(b)  If requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency;

(c)  If requested by a financial institution or title company for business purposes, to the requesting financial institution or title company; or

(d)  If the law enforcement or judicial officer provides written permission for disclosure of such information.

(31) All information exchanged between the Idaho transportation department and insurance companies, any database created, all information contained in the verification system and all reports, responses or other information generated for the purposes of the verification system, pursuant to section 49-1234, Idaho Code.

(32) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the release of information to the state controller as the state social security administrator as provided in section 59-1101A, Idaho Code.

(33) Personal information, including but not limited to property values, personal and business addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, social security and driver’s license numbers or any other identifying numbers or information maintained by the administrator of the unclaimed property law set forth in chapter 5, title 14, Idaho Code. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the release of names, last known city of residence, property value ranges and general property information by the administrator for the purpose of reuniting unclaimed property with its owner.

(34) Any personal information collected by the secretary of state, pursuant to section 67-906(1)(b), Idaho Code, for the purpose of allowing individuals to access the statewide electronic filing system authorized in section 67-906, Idaho Code, except campaign contact phone numbers for candidates or committees, which shall be publicly available upon request; and any notification email addresses submitted as part of a lobbyist’s registration under section 67-6617, Idaho Code, of an employer, client, or designated contact for the purpose of electronic notification of that employer, client, or designated contact of a report filed under section 67-6619, Idaho Code.

History:

[74-106, added 2015, ch. 140, sec. 5, p. 351; am. 2016, ch. 343, sec. 2, p. 982; am. 2016, ch. 359, sec. 9, p. 1056; am. 2017, ch. 146, sec. 2, p. 353; am. 2018, ch. 143, sec. 3, p. 294; am. 2019, ch. 290, sec. 8, p. 857; am. 2020, ch. 279, sec. 1, p. 813; am. 2020, ch. 297, sec. 4, p. 862; am. 2022, ch. 305, sec. 5, p. 966; am. 2022, ch. 306, sec. 4, p. 977; am. 2023, ch. 179, sec. 3, p. 484; am. 2023, ch. 307, sec. 22, p. 937; am. 2024, ch. 16, sec. 17, p. 152.]