Richard A. Blankenship v. Kootenai County

Appellant appeals the district court's decision on summary judgment finding based upon uncontroverted facts that the county clerk, deputy clerk and bailiffs were State employees while destroying exhibits. 1994 Opinion No. 3 TROUT, Justice. This appeal is brought by the Blankenships from a summary judgment entered in favor of Kootenai County. This appeal arose from an unfortunate incident where personal mementoes of Justin Blankenship, the appellants' deceased son, were destroyed following a wrongful death trial brought by the Blankenships. The Blankenships filed suit against the State and County for the alleged negligent destruction of the exhibits. The district court ruled, based upon uncontroverted facts, that as a matter of law Kootenai County could not be responsible for the alleged negligent acts of the deputy county clerks or bailiffs for the destruction of exhibits. The district court held that the deputy clerks and bailiffs were under the control of the district court administrative Judge while destroying the exhibits; therefore, they were State employees for purposes of imposing liability upon a governmental entity under the Idaho Tort Claims Act. We agree.