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Idaho Statutes
Idaho Statutes are updated to the website July 1 following the legislative session.
TRANSPARENT AND ETHICAL GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 1
PUBLIC RECORDS ACT
74-107. Records exempt from disclosure — Trade secrets, production records, appraisals, bids, proprietary information, tax commission, unclaimed property, petroleum clean water trust fund. The following records are exempt from disclosure:
(1) Trade secrets including those contained in response to public agency requests for proposal, requests for clarification, requests for information and similar requests. "Trade secrets" as used in this section means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, computer program, device, method, technique, process, or unpublished or in-progress research that:
(a) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(b) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
(2) Production records, housing production, rental and financing records, sale or purchase records, catch records, mortgage portfolio loan documents, or similar business records of a private concern or enterprise required by law to be submitted to or inspected by a public agency or submitted to or otherwise obtained by an independent public body corporate and politic. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the use which can be made of such information for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
(3) Records relating to the appraisal of real property, timber or mineral rights prior to its acquisition, sale or lease by a public agency.
(4) Any estimate prepared by a public agency that details the cost of a public project until such time as disclosed or bids are opened, or upon award of the contract for construction of the public project.
(5) Examination, operating or condition reports and all documents relating thereto, prepared by or supplied to any public agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions including, but not limited to, banks, savings and loan associations, regulated lenders, business and industrial development corporations, credit unions, and insurance companies, or for the regulation or supervision of the issuance of securities.
(6) Records gathered by a local agency or the Idaho department of commerce, as described in chapter 47, title 67, Idaho Code, for the specific purpose of assisting a person to locate, maintain, invest in, or expand business operations in the state of Idaho.
(7) Shipping and marketing records of commodity commissions used to evaluate marketing and advertising strategies and the names and addresses of growers and shippers maintained by commodity commissions.
(8) Financial statements and business information and reports submitted by a legal entity to a port district organized under title 70, Idaho Code, in connection with a business agreement, or with a development proposal or with a financing application for any industrial, manufacturing, or other business activity within a port district.
(9) Names and addresses of seed companies, seed crop growers, seed crop consignees, locations of seed crop fields, variety name and acreage by variety. Upon the request of the owner of the proprietary variety, this information shall be released to the owner. Provided however, that if a seed crop has been identified as diseased or has been otherwise identified by the Idaho department of agriculture, other state departments of agriculture, or the United States department of agriculture to represent a threat to that particular seed or commercial crop industry or to individual growers, information as to test results, location, acreage involved and disease symptoms of that particular seed crop, for that growing season, shall be available for public inspection and copying. This exemption shall not supersede the provisions of section 22-436, Idaho Code, nor shall this exemption apply to information regarding specific property locations subject to an open burning of crop residue pursuant to section 39-114, Idaho Code, names of persons responsible for the open burn, acreage and crop type to be burned, and time frames for burning.
(10) Information obtained from books, records and accounts required in chapter 47, title 22, Idaho Code, to be maintained by the Idaho oilseed commission and pertaining to the individual production records of oilseed growers.
(11) Records of any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in anticipation of litigation or for analysis of or settlement of potential or actual money damage claims against a public entity and its employees or against the industrial special indemnity fund except as otherwise discoverable under the Idaho or federal rules of civil procedure. These records shall include, but are not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records, computerized reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents and correspondence relating thereto. At the time any claim is concluded, only statistical data and actual amounts paid in settlement shall be deemed a public record unless otherwise ordered to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction. Provided however, nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege otherwise available to any public agency.
(12) Records of laboratory test results provided by or retained by the Idaho food quality assurance laboratory. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
(13) Reports required to be filed under chapter 13, title 62, Idaho Code, identifying electrical or natural or manufactured gas consumption data for an individual customer or account.
(14) Voluntarily prepared environmental audits, and voluntary disclosures of information submitted on or before December 31, 1997, to an environmental agency, which are claimed to be confidential business information.
(15) Computer programs developed or purchased by or for any public agency for its own use. As used in this subsection, "computer program" means a series of instructions or statements which permit the functioning of a computer system in a manner designed to provide storage, retrieval and manipulation of data from the computer system, and any associated documentation and source material that explain how to operate the computer program. Computer program does not include:
(a) The original data including, but not limited to, numbers, text, voice, graphics and images;
(b) Analysis, compilation and other manipulated forms of the original data produced by use of the program; or
(c) The mathematical or statistical formulas that would be used if the manipulated forms of the original data were to be produced manually.
(16) Active investigative records and trademark usage audits of the Idaho potato commission specifically relating to the enforcement of chapter 12, title 22, Idaho Code, until the commencement of formal proceedings as provided by rules of the commission; purchase and sales information submitted to the Idaho potato commission during a trademark usage audit, and investigation or enforcement proceedings. Inactive investigatory records shall be disclosed unless the disclosure would violate the standards set forth in subsection (1)(a) through (f) of section 74-124, Idaho Code. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
(17) All records copied or obtained by the director of the department of agriculture or his designee as a result of an inspection pursuant to section 25-3806, Idaho Code, except:
(a) Records otherwise deemed to be public records not exempt from disclosure pursuant to this chapter; and
(b) Inspection reports, determinations of compliance or noncompliance and all other records created by the director or his designee pursuant to section 25-3806, Idaho Code.
(18) All data and information collected by the division of animal industries or the state brand board pursuant to the provisions of section 25-207B, Idaho Code, or rules promulgated thereunder.
(19) Records disclosed to a county official by the state tax commission pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of section 63-3029B, Idaho Code.
(20) Records, data, information and materials collected, developed, generated, ascertained or discovered during the course of academic research at public institutions of higher education if the disclosure of such could reasonably affect the conduct or outcome of the research, or the ability of the public institution of higher education to patent or copyright the research or protect intellectual property.
(21) Records, data, information and materials collected or utilized during the course of academic research at public institutions of higher education provided by any person or entity other than the public institution of higher education or a public agency.
(22) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21) of this section shall apply only until the academic research is publicly released, copyrighted or patented, or until the academic research is completed or terminated. At such time, the records, data, information, and materials shall be subject to public disclosure unless: (a) another exemption in this chapter applies; (b) such information was provided to the institution subject to a written agreement of confidentiality; or (c) public disclosure would pose a danger to persons or property.
(23) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21) of this section do not include basic information about a particular research project that is otherwise subject to public disclosure, such as the nature of the academic research, the name of the researcher, and the amount and source of the funding provided for the project.
(24) Records of a county assessor, the state tax commission, a county board of equalization or the state board of tax appeals containing the following information: (i) lists of personal property required to be filed pursuant to section 63-302, Idaho Code, and operating statements required to be filed pursuant to section 63-404, Idaho Code; and (ii) confidential commercial or financial information including trade secrets. Except with respect to lists of personal property required to be filed pursuant to section 63-302, Idaho Code, and the operator statements required to be filed pursuant to section 63-404, Idaho Code, it shall be the responsibility of the taxpayer to give notice of its claim to exemption by stamping or marking each page or the first page of each portion of documents so claimed. No records that are exempt pursuant to this subsection shall be disclosed without the consent of the taxpayer except as follows:
(a) To any officer, employee or authorized representative of the state or the United States, under a continuing claim of confidentiality, as necessary to carry out the provisions of state or federal law or when relevant to any proceeding thereunder.
(b) In the publication of statistics or reports as long as the statistics or reports do not reasonably lead to the identification of the specific taxpayer or information submitted by taxpayers exempt pursuant to this subsection.
(c) To the board of tax appeals or the district court as evidence or otherwise in connection with an appeal of the taxpayer’s property tax assessment, but only if the board or the court, as applicable, has entered a protective order specifying that the taxpayer information may not be disclosed by any person conducting or participating in the action or proceeding, except as authorized by the board or the court in accordance with applicable law.
(d) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent disclosure of the following information:
(i) Name and mailing address of the property owner;
(ii) A parcel number;
(iii) A legal description of real property;
(iv) The square footage and acreage of real property;
(v) The assessed value of taxable property;
(vi) The tax district and the tax rate; and
(vii) The total property tax assessed.
(25) Results of laboratory tests which have no known adverse impacts to human health conducted by the Idaho state department of agriculture animal health laboratory, related to diagnosis of animal diseases of individual animals or herds, on samples submitted by veterinarians or animal owners unless:
(a) The laboratory test results indicate the presence of a state or federally reportable or regulated disease in animals;
(b) The release of the test results is required by state or federal law; or
(c) The test result is identified as representing a threat to animal or human health or to the livestock industry by the Idaho state department of agriculture or the United States department of agriculture. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding, or the duty of any person to report contagious or infectious diseases as required by state or federal law.
(26) Results of laboratory tests conducted by the Idaho state department of agriculture seed laboratory on samples submitted by seed producers or seed companies. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information pursuant to the provisions of subsections (9) and (10) of section 22-418, Idaho Code.
(27) For policies that are owned by private persons, and not by a public agency of the state of Idaho, records of policies, endorsements, affidavits and any records that discuss policies, endorsements and affidavits that may be required to be filed with or by a surplus line association pursuant to chapter 12, title 41, Idaho Code.
(28) Individual financial statements of a postsecondary educational institution or a proprietary school submitted to the state board of education, its director or a representative thereof, for the purpose of registering the postsecondary educational institution or proprietary school pursuant to section 33-2402 or 33-2403, Idaho Code, or provided pursuant to an administrative rule of the board adopted pursuant to such sections.
(29) Information submitted by insurance companies pursuant to section 41-612(17), Idaho Code.
(30) Documents, materials or other information submitted to the director of the department of insurance as provided in chapter 64, title 41, Idaho Code.
(31) Reports, information and other materials exempted by chapter 63, title 41, Idaho Code.
(32) Records that identify the method by which the Idaho state tax commission selects tax returns for audit review.
(33) Records that identify the method by which the administrator of the unclaimed property law set forth in chapter 5, title 14, Idaho Code, selects reports for audit review or conducts audit review of such reports and the identity of individuals or entities under audit.
(34) Underwriting and claims records of the Idaho petroleum clean water trust fund obtained pursuant to section 41-4905, 41-4909, 41-4911A, 41-4912, or 41-4912A, Idaho Code. Provided, however, that this subsection shall not prevent the Idaho petroleum clean water trust fund’s submittal to the Idaho department of environmental quality or other regulatory agencies of information necessary to satisfy an insured’s corrective action requirement under applicable federal or state standards in the event of a release into the environment from a petroleum storage tank; and provided further that nothing in this subsection shall prevent the Idaho petroleum clean water trust fund from providing auditing, reporting, or actuarial information as otherwise required of it pursuant to section 41-4919, 41-4925A, 41-4928, 41-4930, 41-4932, 41-4937, or 41-4938, Idaho Code.
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