Idaho OAH: Policy No. 23-1: Use of Artificial Intelligence (Idaho Office of Administrativ…

What the rule requires

Idaho OAH Policy No. 23-1 is a clean prohibition on AI use by hearing officers in the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings. The rule applies internally: hearing officers, whether in-house staff or contract, may not use AI or chatbots (ChatGPT specifically named) in drafting, finalizing, or otherwise preparing the orders they issue. This includes preliminary orders, recommended final orders, and proposed final orders.

The rule operates on the agency-internal axis rather than imposing duties on litigants or counsel appearing before the OAH. Counsel preparing matters for the Idaho OAH should note that adjudicators here are operating under a strict no-AI policy for the orders they issue, distinct from the disclosure-and-verification posture that has become common in trial-court chambers.

The policy is interim by its terms, set to remain in force until the Idaho OAH Code of Conduct is updated to address AI use in hearing-officer drafting. Practitioners with pending matters should expect the policy to evolve as the agency completes that update.

R&G data corrections

R&G’s tracker dates this entry 2023-07-12. The policy itself states “Effective Date: January 12, 2023” on the face of the document, with policy number 23-1. R&G is six months off; 2023-01-12 is the operative effective date.

Quotable language

“Hearing Officers, whether in-house or contract, are prohibited from utilizing artificial intelligence and/or chatbots (including, but not limited to, ChatGPT) in drafting, finalizing, or otherwise preparing orders to be issued by the Hearing Officer, including, but not limited to, preliminary orders, recommended final orders, and/or proposed final orders.”

“This policy is interim in nature, until such time as the Code of Conduct is updated to address the use of artificial intelligence in such drafting.”

Primary source

Idaho OAH Policies Manual (Policy No. 23-1, p. 1), oah.idaho.gov