40-208. JUDICIAL REVIEW. (1) Any resident or property holder within the county or highway district system, including the state of Idaho or any of its subdivisions or any agency of the federal government, who is aggrieved by a final decision of a board of county or highway district commissioners in an abandonment and vacation or validation proceeding is entitled to judicial review under the provisions of this section.

(2) Proceedings for review are instituted by filing a petition in the district court of the county in which the commissioners have jurisdiction over the highway or public right-of-way within twenty-eight (28) days after the filing of the final decision of the commissioners or, if a rehearing is requested, within twenty-eight (28) days after the decision thereon.

(3) The filing of the petition does not itself stay enforcement of the commissioners’ decision. The reviewing court may order a stay upon appropriate terms.

(4) Within thirty (30) days after the service of the petition, or within further time allowed by the court, the commissioners shall transmit to the reviewing court the original or a certified copy of the entire record of the proceeding under review. By stipulation of all parties to the review proceedings, the record may be shortened. A party unreasonably refusing to stipulate to limit the record may be ordered by the court to pay for additional costs. The court may require subsequent corrections to the record and may also require or permit additions to the record.

(5) The parties may present additional evidence to the court, upon a showing to the court that such evidence is material to the issues presented to the court. In such case, the court may order that the additional information be presented to the commissioners upon conditions determined by the court. The commissioners may modify their findings and decisions by reason of the additional information and shall file that information and any modifications, new findings, or decisions with the reviewing court.

(6) Either party to a proceeding may request in writing that a judge who resides outside the county where the subject road or property is located be appointed to hear the case, and, upon such written request, such a judge shall be appointed for the case. The review shall be conducted by the court without a jury. The court shall consider the record before the board of county or highway district commissioners and shall defer to the board of county or highway district commissioners on matters in which such board has appropriately exercised its discretion with respect to the evaluation of the public interest. As to the determination of highway or public right-of-way creation, width and abandonment, the court may accept new evidence and testimony supplemental to the record provided by the county or highway district, and the court shall consider those issues anew. In cases of alleged irregularities in procedure before the commissioners, not shown in the record, proof thereon may be taken in the court. The court, upon request, shall hear oral argument and receive written briefs.

(7) Any person other than a board of county or highway district commissioners seeking a determination of the legal status or the width of a highway or public right-of-way shall first petition for the initiation of validation or abandonment proceedings, or both, as provided for in sections 40-203(1)(b) and 40-203A(1), Idaho Code. If the commissioners having jurisdiction over the highway system do not initiate a proceeding in response to such a petition within thirty (30) days, the person may seek a determination by quiet title or other available judicial means. When the legal status or width of a highway or public right-of-way is disputed and where a board of county or highway district commissioners wishes to determine the legal status or width of a highway or public right-of-way, the commissioners shall initiate validation or abandonment proceedings, or both, as provided for in sections 40-203 and 40-203A, Idaho Code, rather than initiating an action for quiet title. If proceedings pursuant to the provisions of section 40-203 or 40-203A, Idaho Code, are initiated, those proceedings and any appeal or remand therefrom shall provide the exclusive basis for determining the status and width of the highway, and no court shall have jurisdiction to determine the status or width of said highway except by way of judicial review provided for in this section. Provided that nothing in this subsection shall preclude determination of the legal status or width of a public road in the course of an eminent domain proceeding, as provided for in chapter 7, title 7, Idaho Code.

History:

[40-208, added 1993, ch. 412, sec. 6, p. 1510; am. 2013, ch. 239, sec. 5, p. 564; am. 2016, ch. 358, sec. 1, p. 1051.]