Bill Description: House Bill 621 would clarify in which parts of a courthouse carrying a concealed weapon is prohibited.
Rating: +1
Amendment Note: The House Amendment to the bill expanded the definition of "the courtroom portions of a courthouse" to include "the courtroom, judges' chambers, witness rooms, jury deliberation rooms, attorney conference rooms, prisoner holding cells, the offices of the court clerks, probation and parole offices, and adjoining corridors of any court."
The amendment also moved the enactment date from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027.
The analysis has been updated, but the rating has not changed.
Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
Although Idaho is generally regarded as being one of the more permissive states when it comes to carrying a concealed weapon, Section 18-3302C, Idaho Code, forbids concealed carry “in a courthouse” among a few other places.
House Bill 621 would limit this language somewhat by amending it to prohibit carrying a concealed weapon “in the courtroom portions of a courthouse,” which the bill would define as “the courtroom, judges' chambers, witness rooms, jury deliberation rooms, attorney conference rooms, prisoner holding cells, the offices of the court clerks, probation and parole offices, and adjoining corridors of any court.”
This broader language, which was added by the amendment, would limit the bill's impact because most parts of a courthouse that don't fall under the specific rooms listed are still accessed through “adjoining corridors.”
In Ada County, for example, the courthouse includes a number of non-courtroom offices and meeting rooms, but the prohibition against concealed carry could remain enforced due to the “adjoining corridors” exception.
(+1)
