At about 6:30 AM today, OpenCdA spoke via telephone with Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon. Our question was this: Given the actions taken in the last few days by both the US Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, what guidance have Idaho’s county clerks received from the Idaho Attorney General and the Idaho Secretary of State regarding the implementation of the two courts’ directives on same-sex marriage?
The answer was shocking but given that this is Idaho, totally unsurprising.
Brannon stated that he had received no direct guidance from the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney, the Idaho Secretary of State, or the Idaho Attorney General. What he had received, however, were email messages from the Idaho Association of Counties, Inc., a lobbying organization. Those messages represented that the Idaho Association of Counties was speaking for and on the authority of the Idaho Attorney General.
We then asked Brannon to cite the statutory authority of Idaho’s county clerks to take official direction to formulate administrative action from the Idaho Association of Counties, Inc. Absent that, we asked him to cite any written directive from the Idaho Attorney General or the Idaho Secretary of State delegating that authority to the Idaho Association of Counties, Inc., a lobbying organization. He was unaware of any such authority.
And that raises this issue: Where have the respective officers of Idaho’s Executive Department specifically and formally directed Idaho’s county clerks to formulate policies and procedures based on emails or other directives from the Idaho Association of Counties, Inc., a lobbying organization? Put another way, on what legal authority would Idaho’s county clerks act solely at the direction of a lobbying organization?
It seems to OpenCdA that to the extent Idaho’s county clerks are charged with executing certain laws and court decisions, the guidance on exactly how to perform those duties should come directly to the county clerks only from either the Idaho Attorney General or the Idaho Secretary of State, possibly after consultation with the respective county prosecuting attorneys. We believe that it would be the height of irresponsibility for Idaho’s Executive Department to rely on a lobbying organization to accurately communicate such important matters to Idaho’s county clerks.
Then again, this is Idaho …