(Pocatello). The Idaho State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 6-2 to approve an amended plan to expand the University of Idaho Law School to a second location in Boise. The Board authorized the University of Idaho officials to now offer, pending legislative approval, a full third year curriculum in Boise and to revisit the issue of funding and support for a full dual location model, including a full three (3) branch curriculum in Boise.
The Board, which serves as the Regents of the University of Idaho, heard extensive presentations from officials with the University of Idaho Law School and administration.
“I was impressed by the depth of detail and preparation I heard from the University of Idaho”, said Board President Milford Terrell. “Now is a time to take a small step, rather than a large leap. We need to have a law school presence in Boise but we need to be sure that all the parameters are in order first,” added Terrell.
“We can not remain stagnant. We either become progressive or we are regressive. We are looking many years down the road,” said Senator Denton Darrington, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee. Senator Darrington was one of a number of officials who testified on behalf of the proposal. Joining Darrington were former Idaho Supreme Court Justices Linda Copple-Trout and Gerald Schroeder. Schroeder also read a prepared statement from current Chief Justice Daniel Eismann.
The Board also reaffirmed the University of Idaho’s statewide mission to provide legal education and for the University to return to the Board for further discussion on the possibility of adding the first two years of law education to the Boise program.
The Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is October 9-10, 2008 in Lewiston.