Hansen v. White

BISTLINE, Justice.

Pursuant to I.A.R. 12.1, the Ninth Circuit certified the following question to this Court:

Under Idaho law, have the county commissioners authority to institute a merit system binding county officers, particularly the sheriff, under which such officers may not terminate deputies and other employees in their department except for cause?

We conclude that a sheriff’s constitutional right to appoint deputies is not abridged where county commissioners institute a merit system prohibiting the dismissal of deputies without cause, so long as the merit system is reasonable under the…