Jane Doe v. John Doe (2025-33)

── Jane Doe v. John Doe (2025-33) ── Court: Idaho Supreme Court Date: May 12, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket Nos. 53148 and 53137 In the Interest of: ) John Doe I and John Doe II, ) Children Under Eighteen (18) Years of Age. ) --------------------------------------------------- ) JANE DOE, ) ) Petitioner-Respondent, ) ) v. ) Boise, October 2025 Term ) JOHN DOE (2025-36), ) Opinion Filed: May 12, 2026 ) Respondent-Appellant. ) OPINION ON ORDER TO ) SHOW CAUSE _______________________________________ ) In the Matter of: ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk Jane Doe II and Jane Doe III, ) Children Under Eighteen (18) Years of Age. ) ------------------------------------------------------ ) JANE DOE, ) ) Petitioner-Respondent, ) ) v. ) ) JOHN DOE (2025-33), ) ) Respondent-Appellant. ) _______________________________________ ) Eric D. Fredericksen, State Public Defender, Boise, argued. Christopher Boyd, Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney, Caldwell, for Canyon County. Aaron Bazzoli argued. Stanley Mortensen, Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney, Coeur d’Alene, for Kootenai County, argued. Raúl R. Labrador, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for Intervenor State of Idaho. Gader Wren argued. _____________________ 1 BRODY, Justice. This matter concerns an indigent parent’s constitutional right to counsel at public expense in a private termination case and a county’s obligation to bear the cost of preparing a clerk’s record and hearing transcripts on appeal. I. BRIEF SUMMARY For more than sixty years, Idaho law provided indigent parents facing termination of their parental rights with a categorical right to an attorney at public expense. See Act of Mar. 19, 1963, ch. 145, § 9, 1963 Idaho Sess. Laws 420, 427–28 (“The parent or guardian ad litem shall be notified as soon as practicable after the filing of a petition and prior to the start of a hearing of his right to have counsel, and if counsel is requested and the parent or guardian is financially unable to employ counsel, counsel shall be provided.”). Historically, Idaho’s forty-four counties paid for those attorneys. In some cases, the indigent parent—usually one involved in a termination proceeding brought by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare under the Child Protective Act (“CPA termination case”)—was represented by a county public defender. In other cases, the indigent parent—usually one involved in a termination proceeding initiated by a private party, such as an ex-spouse (“private termination