About Public Records in Idaho

• General Jurisdiction / Upper Courts


• District Courts - 7 districts. These courts handle the following case types:
• Civil - torts, contracts, and real property rights.
• Mental health
• Domestic relations.
• Criminal felony, drunk driving and misdemeanor.
• Juvenile.


• Limited Jurisdiction / Lower Courts


• Magistrates Courts - 82 courts. These courts handle the following case types:
• Civil - torts, contracts, and real property rights for claims up to $10,000.
• Estates.
• Mental health.
• Small claims.
• Adoption.
• Misdemeanor and drunk driving.
• Traffic.
• Juvenile.
• Preliminary hearings.

Idaho real and personal property tax records are kept by the County Assessor in each county.
 

Idaho deeds and general document recording are handled by the Recorder's Office in each county. Records kept include deeds, mortgage documents, easements, powers of attorney, and liens.

The Idaho Bureau of Health Policy and Vital Statistics maintains birth and death records filed from July 1911 to the present, and marriage and divorce records filed from May 1947 to the present. Some counties may have older birth, death, marriage, or divorce records in their files, but county files contain only records of vital events that occurred in that county.