Judge seeks particulars of payout

A District Court judge Tuesday said he wants to see the settlement agreement that resulted in a nearly $70,000 payout to a former county employee.

Judge John Stegner said he believed the settlement agreement between Marina Kalani, the former Juvenile Education Training Court coordinator, and Kootenai County’s insurance provider may be relevant to a lawsuit seeking e-mail between Kalani and her former supervisor.

The Spokesman-Review filed the lawsuit to gain access to all e-mail exchanges between Kalani and her supervisor, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas.

Kootenai County commissioners reviewed the e-mail looking for information about the failure of the federally funded juvenile drug court that Kalani had supervised. Commissioner Gus Johnson has said the e-mail instead raised concerns about a possibly improper relationship between Kalani and Douglas.

The commission contacted the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, the county’s insurer, funded from a pool of taxpayer money. The insurer paid Kalani $69,150 on March 23 to settle a claim having to do with “errors/omissions.” Kalani received the payment two days after she resigned from her position with the county.

Stegner called for Tuesday’s hearing after both The Spokesman-Review and the Coeur d’Alene Press published stories April 21 about Kalani’s settlement. Days earlier, Stegner heard arguments in the suit that was filed by The Spokesman-Review, and Kalani submitted an affidavit stating she had never made a claim against Douglas.

Stegner ordered Tuesday’s hearing because he said the court inferred from Kalani’s affidavit that she had made no claim of any kind.

“That is not the case,” Stegner said last week in his order.

“Because this court left the hearing on April 18, 2005, with a mistaken impression of the fact, it is necessary that another hearing be conducted …”

In court Tuesday, the 2nd District judge met in his chambers with attorneys for all involved parties for more than half an hour. Following the private discussion, Stegner said he wanted the settlement agreement.

The judge said he would temporarily seal the agreement and attorneys for Kalani, Douglas and the county’s insurer could seek a permanent protection order for the agreement within two weeks. The Spokesman-Review’s attorney, Duane Swinton, would then have a week to appeal any decision to permanently seal the settlement agreement.

Attorneys for Kalani and Douglas couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.