Two years ago, the Idaho Civil Law Claims Program reported there were nearly 5,000 civil-legislation claims in Idaho, which has a population of just under 100,000.
Since then, that number has more than tripled to more than 10,000, according to the Idaho Department of Public Safety.
While those numbers are staggering, they’re not as dramatic as some other states, including Nevada, which had over 15,000 claims in 2016.
“The thing is, when you look at Idaho, there’s really not that many other states,” said Heidi Loesch, a lawyer with the Idaho Law Project.
“And so if there’s one thing that we’re seeing here, it’s that people who are experiencing a traumatic event are more likely to file claims in other states.”
There are a number of factors that make it difficult to determine whether a claim is a legal one in Idaho.
For one thing, the state’s civil-legal-law definition is so wide, the number of legal claims can be a big variable.
Idaho has its own legal system and does not use the U.S. legal system as the base for the definition.
That means it’s harder to say what is and is not a legal claim, according in Loesach.
“There’s a lot of cases where it’s very difficult to prove a claim,” she said.
“That’s because they have a very high burden of proof.”
Idaho also has a strict definition of what constitutes a domestic violence incident, which means it doesn’t matter if the violence is occurring outside the home or in a public place.
“If someone is hitting you, if you’re not wearing a seatbelt, if it’s on a leash, if there is a leash,” Loesich said.
The same goes for when the injuries are caused by the person who has a legal right to the property.
Loeshes said some of the most common types of claims in the state include domestic abuse, battery, assault and stalking.
And she’s concerned that the lack of a clear definition of domestic violence in Idaho means there’s a greater chance that someone will file a claim with a false name or address and try to make it look like it’s related to domestic violence.
“You may get a person who may be the victim of a domestic abuse claim and get a false claim because it’s a domestic-violence claim, and it may be filed with a name that doesn’t match up to the person,” Liesch said.
And those who file a false report are often put on a waiting list for months or even years to get justice, Loesches said.
There are also instances when someone is charged with domestic violence and gets charged with felony domestic violence, but the state is not required to show the felony charge is actually a crime, Losesch said, meaning that there is little to stop people from filing a false complaint.
“I think people are afraid to go to court because of the potential charges,” she added.
“It could happen that the victim’s life is taken and there’s no way for her to recover from that.”
It can also be a challenge to prove that the assault was intentional.
“When it’s about the intent to harm, it is very hard to prove,” Losesches said, adding that a person may not even realize that they’ve committed a crime.
The state’s legal system can be complicated and there are a lot more rules than in other Western states.
But Loeschnes said she doesn’t think it’s too much to ask people to make sure they know what their rights are when filing a claim.
“One of the things that we’ve seen in our experience is that it’s not uncommon for people to file a complaint with the police, because there are no protections,” she explained.
“They may file a report with the state, but it’s only a report and not a conviction.”
“There is so much that needs to be clarified and done, so it’s really hard to know how to proceed with the complaint, especially if it involves a child,” she continued.
“We see more and more instances of police officers filing false reports of assault with their own children and it’s devastating.”
While the Idaho law does not specifically address domestic violence claims, Lotesch said she believes it is important to educate people about how to file for domestic violence damages.
“Most of us don’t understand what a domestic assault is, what it entails, or how to actually get the benefits from that,” she told CBC News.
“So I think we need to educate ourselves and educate the community.”
Loeschens advice to anyone filing a complaint against their ex-partner: “It’s important to know the difference between a domestic and an assault.
It’s important that you know what you’re signing up for, and also what you’ll get,” she advised. “In my