WHAT THE WORDS MEAN

Also called restarting the clock

A written, signed promise to pay that restarts the time limit on a debt. Any payment of principal or interest counts as one.

Also called APC, sleeping in the car

Being in the driver's position of a motor vehicle with the motor running or the vehicle moving. The DUI section reaches it as well as driving.

Also called living will, advance directive

A document any competent person eighteen or older may make naming health care agents and giving instructions on care, valid with the person's name, birth date, contact details, signature and the date signed.

Also called retaliation at work

Discharging, threatening or otherwise discriminating against an employee in any way that affects the job, including pay, terms, location and promotions.

Also called squatter's rights

Claiming land by possession without a deed, which takes a substantial enclosure or cultivation, twenty years of continuous occupation and claim, and payment of all the taxes on the land.

Also called BAC, blood alcohol

The measure of alcohol the DUI section is written in. Driving at 0.08 or more is unlawful, and for a driver under twenty-one, 0.02 or more.

Also called unemployment hearing officer

The officer who hears an appeal from an unemployment determination, filed within fourteen days, and decides with findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Also called taken into custody

Taking a person into custody as the law allows, by a peace officer or a private person.

Also called running loose

A dog off its owner's premises without a responsible attendant. Where a county has adopted the license measure, a dog at large without its tag is an infraction.

Also called potentially dangerous dog

A dog that bites a person without justified provocation but without causing serious injury. A dangerous dog is one that inflicts serious injury, or an at-risk dog that bites or attacks again.

Also called right to bail

The entitlement of a person charged with a crime, and not released on recognizance, to bail before a plea or verdict of guilty, unless the offense is punishable by death and the proof is evident or the presumption great.

Also called best interest

The standard a court decides custody by, weighing the parents' and the child's wishes, the child's relationships and adjustment, continuity and stability, and domestic violence.

Also called BOE, tax appeal board

The county board that hears a taxpayer's written appeal of an assessment or exemption decision, filed by the fourth Monday of June for the property roll.

Also called self-help repossession limits

What a creditor repossessing without court must avoid: it may take collateral only without entering a dwelling and without force or other breach of the peace.

Also called data breach

Unauthorized access to computerized personal information, after which the business or agency investigates and notifies affected Idaho residents without unreasonable delay where misuse is reasonably likely.

Also called defense of habitation

The presumption that a person using force in defense of a home, a place of business or an occupied vehicle acted reasonably against someone whose entry was unlawful and made by force, violently, by stealth, or to commit a felony.

Also called title, pink slip

The document without which a person who acquires a vehicle acquires no right, title or interest in it. A new owner who presents it for transfer more than thirty days after the sale pays a $20 penalty.

Also called car seat, booster

A restraint meeting the federal standard, in which a child six years of age or younger rides in a vehicle built with seat belts.

Also called ticket

The written notice issued to a driver halted for a misdemeanor traffic violation who is not taken before a magistrate.

Also called trespass damages

Entering or remaining on another person's real property without permission. The trespasser owes the greater of $500 or actual damages, and treble damages where they had reason to know and caused more than $1,000 in damage.

Also called informal marriage

A marriage formed by a couple simply assuming marital rights and duties, which Idaho does not recognize unless it began before January 1, 1996.

Also called marital property

Property of the marriage, which in a divorce is divided substantially equally unless there are compelling reasons otherwise, and at a death without a will passes in the deceased's half to the surviving spouse.

Also called CWL, carry permit

The license the sheriff issues within ninety days to an applicant who is not disqualified, valid for five years, for a fee of $20.

Also called pattern of contact

Repeated acts of nonconsensual contact with the victim or a family or household member, such as following or surveillance, which is what stalking is built from.

Also called lethal force

Force an officer may use to overcome resistance only on probable cause that the resistance threatens death or serious physical injury, and to stop a felony suspect's escape only on probable cause that the person poses such a threat.

Also called dangerous weapon

Under the concealed weapons chapter, any dirk, dirk knife, bowie knife or dagger, and any instrument designed or intended to be readily capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

Also called disorderly conduct

Maliciously and willfully disturbing the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, a family or a person by loud or unusual noise, tumultuous or offensive conduct, threatening, quarreling, challenging to fight or fighting. It is a misdemeanor.

Also called pipe, bong

Equipment used, or possessed with intent to use, to grow, make, prepare, store, inject, ingest, inhale or otherwise take a controlled substance. Using or possessing it that way is a misdemeanor.

Also called POA, durable POA

A power of attorney that survives the principal's incapacity, which every power of attorney is unless it expressly says incapacity ends it.

Also called out of pocket loss

The value of property taken, destroyed or harmed, lost wages, and out-of-pocket costs such as medical expenses, which may be recovered up to $2,500 from the parents of a minor who willfully caused it.

Also called same day registration

Registering to vote at the precinct polling place on election day, with proof of identity and residence and an oath.

Also called e-bike, ebike

A bicycle with working pedals and a motor of less than seven hundred fifty watts, in one of three classes. No driver's license, registration, plate or insurance is required.

Also called Good Samaritan law

Care given in good faith and without pay at an accident or emergency. No civil damages may be recovered from the person who gives it unless they were grossly negligent.

Also called without notice, temporary order

Heard without prior notice to the other side. An ex parte temporary protection order lasts no more than fourteen days, may be reissued, and is followed by a full hearing.

Also called closed session

A closed part of a public meeting, allowed only for the purposes the open meetings chapter lists.

Also called exemptions

Property a judgment creditor cannot take, such as household goods up to $1,000 an item and $7,500 in all, tools of the trade up to $10,000 and one motor vehicle up to $10,000.

Also called serious crime

A crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the state prison. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to five years, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

Also called sentence completed

The satisfactory completion of imprisonment, probation and parole, on which a person convicted of an Idaho felony is restored the full rights of citizenship.

Also called last paycheck

All wages due when a job ends, paid by the earlier of the next regular payday or ten days, or within forty-eight hours of a written request.

Also called competency, competent to stand trial

The capacity to understand the proceedings and assist in one's own defense. No one who lacks it because of mental disease or defect may be tried, convicted or sentenced while that lasts.

Also called civil forfeiture, seizure

Taking property used in drug crimes, such as vehicles used to transport drugs and money found close to them. Proceedings begin within thirty days of a seizure, and an owner may answer within twenty days of the notice.

Also called wage garnishment

Taking part of a person's pay to satisfy a debt, limited to 25% of a week's disposable earnings or the excess over thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less.

Also called good cause to quit

Reasons for quitting that arise from the working conditions, the tasks or the employment agreement and that a reasonable person would find real, substantial and compelling.

Also called overdose immunity, Good Samaritan

Seeking medical help for someone in a drug-related emergency. The caller and the person overdosing are not charged with possession, use or paraphernalia where the evidence was found because help was sought.

Also called grandparents' rights

Reasonable visitation the district court may grant grandparents or great-grandparents on a proper showing that it is in the child's best interests.

Also called unable to care for self

One ground for a mental health hold: reason to believe a person is gravely disabled by mental illness, or that their liberty poses an imminent danger to themselves or others.

Also called bullying, cyberbullying

An intentional act or threat by a student that a reasonable person should know will harm another student or put them in reasonable fear, or that is severe enough to create an intimidating school environment, including by phone or online.

Also called initiation

Subjecting a member or pledge of a student group to bodily danger, forced drinking or eating, assaults, confinement or sleep deprivation as a condition of membership. A student who personally does it commits a misdemeanor.

Also called homestead exemption for taxes

The exemption from property tax of the first $125,000 of a homestead's market value, or 50% of it, whichever is less, for a home that is owner occupied and the owner's primary dwelling.

Also called homestead exemption

A home occupied as the owner's principal residence, protected automatically against creditors up to $175,000.

Also called interlock, blow and go

A device on a car that tests the driver's breath, ordered after a DUI conviction and for a year after a refusal suspension.

Also called deemed consent

The rule that a person who drives in Idaho is deemed to have consented to evidentiary testing for alcohol or drugs at the request of an officer with reasonable grounds. Refusing brings a civil penalty of $250 and a suspension.

Also called civil penalty, ticket offense

A civil public offense, not a crime, punishable only by a penalty not exceeding $300, with no jail.

Also called without a will

Dying without a will. The surviving spouse takes the deceased spouse's half of the community property, and a share of the separate property that depends on whether there are children or parents.

Also called no fault divorce

One of the eight grounds for divorce, and the one that needs no showing of fault.

Also called shared custody

An order giving custody to both parents with physical custody shared so the child has frequent and continuing contact with both. It is presumed to be in the child's best interests.

Also called provoked bite

An act a reasonable person who knows dogs would expect to bring on a bite by an ordinary dog. No dog is dangerous or at risk where the cause was justified provocation.

Also called noncompete employee

An employee who, through the employer's investment, gained inside knowledge, influence or a public reputation as its representative that lets them harm its legitimate business interests.

Also called limited guardianship

The form of guardianship the law favors, letting the person take part in decisions as fully as possible.

Also called car insurance, financial responsibility

The insurance every owner of a vehicle registered and operated in Idaho keeps continuously. Driving without it is a $75 infraction the first time, and a misdemeanor on a second within five years.

Also called mechanic's lien, contractor's lien

A claim on real property for work or materials, filed within ninety days after the work, which binds the property no longer than six months unless a suit to enforce it is started.

Also called tint percentage, VLT

The share of light a tinted window lets through: at least 35% on the front side windows and the rear window, and at least 20% behind the driver, within a tolerance of 3%.

Also called space rent, pad rent

Rent for the lot under a manufactured home owned by the resident, which may be raised after the lease term only on ninety days' written notice, uniformly across the community or rent tier.

Also called magistrate judge

The judicial officer before whom a person arrested without a warrant is taken without unnecessary delay, with a complaint stating the charge.

Also called alimony, spousal support

Support a court may order for a spouse who lacks enough property for reasonable needs and cannot support themselves through work, in an amount and for a time the court finds just.

Also called cannabis, weed

A controlled substance whose possession is a crime in Idaho, including any extract or preparation containing tetrahydrocannabinol. Three ounces or less is a misdemeanor, and more is a felony.

Also called under eighteen

A person under eighteen years of age. A minor who has been married may enter contracts and sue on them.

Also called MIP, underage drinking

A person under twenty-one who buys, tries to buy, consumes or possesses alcohol, which is an infraction with a fine of $300 the first time and a misdemeanor after.

Also called minor crime

Any crime that is not a felony. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Also called phone, cell phone

A phone or similar device, which no one may use while operating a motor vehicle, sitting at a light included, apart from hands-free, voice and one-touch uses and emergency calls.

Also called move over law

The duty, approaching a stationary police, emergency, tow or incident response vehicle with lights flashing, to slow below the posted limit and, on a road with two or more lanes each way, move out of the adjacent lane.

Also called child neglect

A child without the parental care, subsistence, medical care or control needed for their well-being because of what the parents did or failed to do.

Also called careless boating

Operating a vessel carelessly and heedlessly, or too fast to stop within the clear distance ahead, including jumping another boat's wake at an unsafe distance and weaving through traffic.

Also called safe and sane fireworks

The fireworks that may be sold and used from midnight June 23 to midnight July 5 and from midnight December 26 to midnight January 1.

Also called lemon defect

A defect in a new car that does not conform to the express warranty and impairs its use or market value. Four or more failed repairs of the same one presume a reasonable number of attempts.

Also called ordinary wear

The deterioration that comes from the intended use of the place, without negligence, carelessness, accident, misuse or abuse by the tenant, the household or guests. Nothing may be kept from the deposit for it.

Also called NOD

The recorded notice that starts a trustee's foreclosure, from which the homeowner has 115 days to cure by paying what is then due with costs and fees.

Also called creditor notice

The notice a personal representative publishes once a week for three successive weeks, telling creditors to present claims within four months of the first publication or be forever barred.

Also called open can

A container of liquor, beer or wine that is not sealed, which no one in a vehicle on a public highway may drink from or possess, apart from the listed exceptions. It may ride in an enclosed trunk.

Also called storage lien

A storage operator's lien on what is stored, enforced by a sale only after sixty days of continuous default and a notice giving at least ten days to pay.

Also called fluorescent paint posting, no trespassing posting

Bright orange or fluorescent paint at the corners of unfenced, uncultivated land and where roads, streams and gates enter it, which with conspicuous signs gives reason to know presence is not permitted.

Also called OR release, released without bail

Release without bail on the person's promise to appear, which a court weighs against appearance, the integrity of the process, the protection of victims and witnesses, and public safety.

Also called cash advance

A short term loan secured by the borrower's check, limited to $1,000 in principal per borrower and no more than 25% of gross monthly income, renewable no more than three consecutive times.

Also called constitutional carry, carry without a license

Carrying a concealed deadly weapon without a license, which the license requirement does not restrict for a person over eighteen who is a citizen or a current member of the armed forces and is not disqualified under the section's list.

Also called identity

Information that identifies a person, which it is a felony to obtain or record without authorization intending it be used to get credit, money, goods or services.

Also called repair lien

A repairer's lien for reasonable charges that depends on keeping the property, which allows an auction after two months unpaid and ten days' public notice.

Also called one party consent

Agreement by one of the parties to a communication, given before it is intercepted. It is lawful to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication when one of the parties has given prior consent, and a party recording their own conversation is that party.

Also called seller disclosure

The form a seller of a home with one to four units completes and delivers to the buyer within ten days of accepting the offer.

Also called circuit breaker

A reduction on the homestead's property tax for an owner in a listed group, such as sixty-five or older or disabled, with household income under the limit, claimed between January 1 and April 15, of up to $1,500 or the actual tax.

Also called restraining order

A civil order on a petition for a victim of domestic violence, which may exclude the respondent from the home, award temporary custody and last up to one year after a full hearing.

Also called government record

A record of the state or a local agency, which every person may examine and copy and which is presumed open unless a statute expressly says otherwise.

Also called court interpreter

The interpreter the court appoints in a civil or criminal case for a party or witness who does not understand or speak English, or cannot fully hear or speak it, sworn to interpret accurately and paid from the district court fund.

Also called careless driving

Driving carelessly and heedlessly or without due caution in a way that endangers people or property, passing where a line marks a sight restriction, or going more than twenty over in an active school or work zone. It is a misdemeanor.

Also called tags, renewal month

One of twelve staggered periods, each starting on the first of a month and expiring at midnight on the last day of the twelfth month, in the year the registration card shows.

Also called mandatory reporter

Any person, teachers, nurses and doctors included, with reason to believe a child has been abused, abandoned or neglected, who reports within twenty-four hours.

Also called retaliation

A park landlord ending or refusing to renew a tenancy, raising rent, cutting services or threatening eviction because a resident complained, joined a residents' association or hired a lawyer, which the park chapter forbids.

Also called warrant to search

A written order in the state's name, signed by a magistrate, judge or justice, directing an officer to search for and seize property. It must be executed and returned within fourteen days of its date.

Also called secondary enforcement

Enforcement that may happen only after a driver is detained for a suspected violation of some other law. The seat belt rule is enforced only this way.

Also called damage deposit

Money a tenant deposits with a landlord for any purpose other than rent, refunded within twenty-one days where the lease sets no time and within thirty days in any event, with an itemized statement for anything kept.

Also called assistance dog

A dog accompanying a person with a disability, allowed in places the public is invited without an extra charge, with the person liable for any damage it does.

Also called emergency removal, foster care

Care a child is placed in after removal. A child taken without an order is held at most forty-eight hours, excluding weekends and holidays, unless a shelter care hearing is held.

Also called small claims court

The part of the magistrate's division that hears claims for money or property worth no more than $15,000, without a jury and without lawyers appearing at the hearing.

Also called affidavit of collection

The affidavit by which a successor collects a person's money and property thirty days after the death, where the estate is worth no more than $100,000 and no administration is pending.

Also called six month rule

The rule that a case is dismissed, absent good cause, if a defendant who did not ask for a postponement is not brought to trial within six months of the information, the arraignment or, for a misdemeanor, the not guilty plea.

Also called no duty to retreat

The rule that a person need not retreat from any place they have a right to be, and may defend themselves or another with the force that would appear necessary to a reasonable person in a similar situation.

Also called time limit to charge

The time within which a prosecution must begin by filing the complaint or finding an indictment: five years for most felonies and one year for most misdemeanors.

Also called Idaho stop, rolling stop for bikes

The rule that a cyclist at a stop sign slows, stops if safety requires, yields, and then may cautiously go through without stopping; at a red light, the cyclist stops and yields first.

Also called next of kin, health care agent

The person who consents to care for a patient who cannot: a guardian, then the agent named in an advance directive, then a spouse, an adult child, a parent and other relatives, in that order.

Also called tax sale

The deed to the county the tax collector makes when delinquent real property is not redeemed within three years, after notice. The owner may still redeem for fourteen months unless the county sells sooner.

Also called school suspension

A short removal from school by a principal or superintendent, after an informal hearing, of no more than five school days by the principal.

Also called month to month

A tenancy with no fixed end, which either side may end by written notice of not less than one month.

Also called server wage

An employee whose direct wage may be counted up by tips actually received but may not be less than $3.35 an hour, with the employer making up any shortfall below the $7.25 minimum.

Also called triple damages

Damages entered at three times the amount assessed, which the landlord and tenant chapter allows in an action under the tenant's section.

Also called deed of trust

The security instrument on most Idaho homes, which a trustee may foreclose by a sale outside court after recording a notice of default and mailing notice of the sale at least 120 days ahead.

Also called consumer fraud

A practice the consumer protection act forbids, such as selling used goods as new, for which a buyer who lost money may recover actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater.

Also called riot

Two or more people assembled to do an unlawful act, or doing a lawful act in a violent, boisterous or tumultuous manner. Taking part in one is a misdemeanor.

Also called eviction

Staying in a rental after the right to stay has ended, as after a written three days' notice to pay rent or give up possession has run.

Also called boat

A boat on Idaho's waters, which no one may operate while under the influence or at 0.08 or more, and which, where it must be numbered, is registered within fifteen days of purchase.

Also called crime victim

A person against whom a crime or juvenile offense was committed, with rights to fairness, notice, presence and to be heard, exercised by a written request filed with the court clerk.

Also called impact statement

The victim's statement of the impact of the crime, which goes into the presentence report the victim may read before sentencing.

Also called points

A point assessed for each moving traffic violation, one for a less serious violation and up to four for a more serious one. Twelve or more in any twelve consecutive months allows a suspension.

Also called paternity form

A signed and notarized form for an Idaho birth, filed with the vital statistics unit, that is a legal finding of paternity, and that a signer may rescind within sixty days.

Also called withheld

A disposition in which the court does not enter judgment on a guilty plea or verdict. A defendant who completes probation without a violation may apply to have the plea set aside and the case dismissed, which restores civil rights.

Also called fired for cause

The kind of discharge that denies unemployment benefits. The employer carries the burden of showing a discharge was for it.

Also called death claim

A death caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, for which the heirs or the personal representative may sue within two years.