Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding membership of and appointments to the Judicial Council, to revise provisions regarding duties of the Judicial Council, and to revise provisions regarding the salaries of judges.

This legislation addresses the filling of judicial vacancies and changes the term of appointment from six (6) years to four (4) years. In addition, it does the following: (1) It changes the way the members of the Judicial Council are chosen. The judicial members would be selected by the supreme court, the non-judicial attorney members would be appointed by the governor from a list of three from the Idaho State Bar, and there would be no change to the manner of approving public members. (2) It changes the membership from seven (7) members to eleven (11) members to add a magistrate judge as a member of the Council, changes the number of non-judicial attorney members to four with requirements for diversity and parity among practice areas, and increases the number of non-attorney members to four. (3) This legislation also allows the Governor to reject a slate of nominees provided by the Judicial Council to fill a judicial vacancy. (4) It makes public information concerning the applicants to fill a judicial vacancy who are on a slate of applicants provided to the Governor for appointment. (5) It allows applicants to see survey comments which are solicited from Idaho State Bar members and the public, which previously were withheld from applicants, but provides that comments are not public. (6) It changes the salary of the supreme court justices to $163,655 per year and adjusts the pay scale of lower courts from a fixed amount to a percentage to prevent compacting the pay scales. (7) Finally, it removes an exception allowing the judicial branch to submit their annual budget request a month later than other state agencies.