Dozens of entities file injunctions on Labrador

BOISE — Dozens of organizations that had previously been served civil investigative demands by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office filed injunctions Wednesday against the state’s top lawyer.

The group of 35 organizations filed a motion to stop the attorney general’s actions in Ada County District Court over the office’s issuance of civil investigative demands, which are a kind of civil subpoena. The attorney general had served the organizations to gather information regarding their involvement in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Community Grant program — which is under scrutiny from the office and lawmakers over whether its funding went to organizations that were ineligible under state law, the Idaho Press previously reported.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorney and former lawmaker Greg Chaney, who argues the move by Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Chief of Civil and Constitutional Defense Division Lincoln Wilson was “an over-reach of government power that distracts from serving Idaho families and communities.”

“It’s overly broad,” Chaney said in an interview regarding the CIDs. “They don’t have legal basis to do it. … The manner that they’re doing it just tramples all over the constitution and any concept of restrained government.”

The office has authority to submit these demands under the Idaho Charitable Assets Protection Act, as well as other areas of Idaho code.

“We look forward to continuing our cooperative communications with some of the recipients, and we will zealously defend the powers the legislature has given us to ensure compliance with Idaho law,” attorney general spokesperson Beth Cahill said via text.

The groups served CIDs, which included as many as 80 organizations, and had applied for and received grants from the health department for after-school programming. The money had come from federal pandemic-relief funding and been appropriated by the state with the requirement that grants be awarded to programs serving school-aged children aged 5 to 13. Grants were awarded in 2021 and 2022.

In early March, the attorney general’s office began serving the CIDs. The demands require the organizations to retain and turn over documents and communications related to the grant program.

The groups that were served have said the demands are excessive and are requesting the court to either cease the action so the organizations do not have to respond or limit the demands’ scope.

“Really, it’s an undue burden on the school district for what we’re trying to do, which is just to educate kids,” said Marsing schools Superintendent Norm Stewart.

The CID required organizations to respond within 20 days, which is an “oppressively unreasonable and impossible time to respond,” the lawsuit states.

A CID document reviewed by the Idaho Press called for all documents, “created, edited, sent, received, viewed, or used” by anyone at the organization who was involved in any way with the Community Grant program.

For these individuals, it also asked for the name, address, contact information, title, description of duties, and a list of all charitable organizations that person is a member, plus board members, directors, volunteers or donors, for all current and former employees of the organization who worked on the grant program.

“At that point, it just feels like very personal information that does not pertain to the situation whatsoever,” Stewart said.

In the health department’s January budget hearing, Director Dave Jeppesen was questioned about some of the groups that received funding that appeared to use them for preschool or other kindergarten readiness programs.

On Feb. 27, the state budget-writing committee authorized an audit of the program over these concerns, the Idaho Press previously reported.

The lawsuit called the audit an “appropriate statutory mechanism” to determine if the funds were being used correctly.

Stewart said from his perspective, the school district wasn’t in violation of any state laws. The school district used funds for its Jumpstart Summer School for elementary school students as well as for some components for its preschool.

Stewart said that by the time the children finished preschool, they were within the age range, he said.

“We applied for a grant, we were awarded a grant and we were following through,” Stewart said. “... we were doing everything that we had said we were going to do.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.