Idaho v. Oldenburg
Annotate this CaseFollowing the State’s dismissal of criminal charges against him, Nickolaus Oldenburg moved the district court to seal the criminal court file pursuant to Idaho Code section 67-3004(10). The State did not contest the motion. Nevertheless, the district court concluded that it did not have the authority to seal Oldenburg’s case file under section 67-3004(10) and, therefore, could not grant his request. As a result of its analysis, the district court denied Oldenburg’s motion. The Idaho Supreme Court held the district court correctly concluded that the legislature could not independently vest the district court with the authority to seal Oldenburg’s court file. "The control of court records resides within the prerogative of this Court, and this Court has adopted I.C.A.R. 32 to govern a defendant’s request to seal court records. ... When the statute is procedural, it is viewed as an attempt 'to control this Court’s processes' and is classified as an impermissible overreach into the authority of this Court to develop its own procedures." Thus, the district court correctly found that Idaho Code section 67-3004(10) impinged on the Supreme Court’s prerogative to make its own rules which governed its own procedure. Accordingly, the decision of the district court was affirmed.
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