Idaho v. McClure
Annotate this CaseDefendant Jason McClure was convicted of criminal contempt after he failed to make restitution payments required under his 1999 conviction for burglary. The contempt charge was based on a “Motion and Affidavit in Support of Contempt Proceedings” signed and sworn to before a deputy court clerk, rather than a notary public. McClure moved to dismiss the contempt charge against him, challenging the validity of the arrest warrant on various grounds. Each was rejected. Ultimately McClure conditionally pled guilty to the contempt allegation, preserving his right to challenge the denial of his motion to dismiss. The Court of Appeals vacated the district court’s judgment of criminal contempt, holding that the document did not impart subject matter jurisdiction over the contempt proceeding because it was not notarized. The State appealed. The Supreme Court reversed: "Here, the document at issue qualifies as an affidavit. A deputy clerk signed it in the presence of a second deputy clerk, whose signature indicated that the document was '[s]ubscribed and sworn to before' the clerk. Because deputy clerks of the court are authorized to administer oaths and affirmations, and because this construction of “affidavit” does no violence to the purpose or spirit of the applicable laws and rules, we hold that the 'Motion and Affidavit in Support of Contempt Proceedings' here was a valid and effective affidavit. As such, it imparted subject matter jurisdiction over McClure’s contempt charge."
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.