Here's what happens with most tort claims against the state, though the one filed by fired ITD Director Pam Lowe is hardly run-of-the-mill: Idaho's risk management office, in response to a public records request, reported that the state received 1,867 such claims in the last three years. Of those, 1,025 were denied, 530 were paid, and 21 resulted in judgments in favor of the state, while 286 are still open or in court.

More than half of Idaho's claims are submitted by prison inmates, often about minor issues. In one recent one, for example, an inmate complained his constitutional rights had been violated because he wasn't given scotch tape he'd requested. Tort claims give the state 90 days to respond, either by paying up and settling the claim, or denying it and freeing the filer to head to court. Claims not responded to within 90 days are automatically considered denied.

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