Idaho § 6-3808 - IMMUNITY FROM SUIT AND LIMITS ON STATE-COURT JURISDICTION

§ 6-3808. IMMUNITY FROM SUIT AND LIMITS ON STATE-COURT JURISDICTION

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the state and each of its subdivisions and their officers and employees shall have sovereign immunity, governmental immunity, and official immunity, as appropriate, in any action, claim, counterclaim, or any type of legal or equitable action that challenges the validity of any provision or application of this chapter, on constitutional grounds or otherwise, or that seeks to prevent or enjoin the state or its political subdivisions or any of their officers, employees, or agents from enforcing any provision or application of this chapter, or from hearing, adjudicating, or docketing a civil action brought under section 6-3804 , Idaho Code, unless that immunity has been abrogated or preempted by federal law in a manner consistent with the constitution of the United States. The sovereign immunity conferred by this section on the state and each of its officers and employees includes the constitutional sovereign immunity recognized by the supreme court of the United States.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the immunities conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall apply in every court, both state and federal, and in every adjudicative proceeding of any type whatsoever.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no provision of state law may be construed to waive or abrogate an immunity described in subsection (1) of this section unless it expressly waives or abrogates immunity with specific reference to this section.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no attorney representing the state, its political subdivisions, or any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision is authorized or permitted to waive an immunity described in subsection (1) of this section or take any action that would result in a waiver of that immunity, and any such action or purported waiver shall be regarded as a legal nullity and an ultra vires act.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including title 1 , Idaho Code, chapter 12, title 10 , Idaho Code, and Idaho appellate rules 5, 13, and 43, no court of this state may award declaratory or injunctive relief, or any type of stay or writ, including a writ of prohibition, that would pronounce any provision or application of this chapter invalid or unconstitutional or that would restrain or prevent the state, its political subdivisions, any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, or any person from implementing or enforcing any provision or application of this chapter, or from hearing, adjudicating, docketing, or filing a civil action brought under section 6-3804 , Idaho Code, and no inferior court of this state shall have jurisdiction to consider any action, claim, or counterclaim that seeks such relief.

(6) Nothing in this section or chapter shall be construed to prevent a litigant from asserting the invalidity or unconstitutionality of any provision or application of this chapter as a defense to any action, claim, or counterclaim brought against that litigant.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any judicial relief issued by a court of this state that disregards the immunities conferred by subsection (1) of this section, or the limitations on jurisdiction and relief imposed by subsection (5) of this section, shall be regarded as a legal nullity because it was issued by a court without jurisdiction and may not be enforced or obeyed by any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, judicial or otherwise.

(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any stay, writ, injunction, or declaratory judgment issued by a court of this state that purports to restrain or prevent the state, its political subdivisions, any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, or any person from hearing, adjudicating, docketing, or filing a civil action brought under section 6-3804 , Idaho Code, shall be regarded as a legal nullity and a violation of the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States and may not be enforced or obeyed by any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, judicial or otherwise.

(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including Idaho rule of civil procedure 77, no court may certify a plaintiff or defendant class with respect to any claim that seeks declaratory or injunctive relief, or any type of stay or writ, that would pronounce any provision or application of this chapter invalid or unconstitutional, or that would restrain or prevent the state, its political subdivisions, any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, or any person from enforcing any provision or application of this chapter, or from hearing, adjudicating, docketing, or filing a civil action brought under section 6-3804 , Idaho Code.

[6-3808, added 2024, ch. 113, sec. 1, p. 492.]