Clark Peterson at a glance
- Current role
- Magistrate Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Idaho · State
- Judicial service
- Active
Clark Peterson
Magistrate Judge · Idaho Magistrate Division, Judicial District 1
Biography
Professional career
- He joined a vacant magistrate judge seat in Idaho's First District Court (Kootenai County) in 2010 and has been re-elected multiple times, including in 2012, 2016, and 2020, often with strong voter support
- Despite these issues, Peterson remains a duly elected magistrate judge, with the state Supreme Court holding authority over his reinstatement or removal
- Before his judicial appointment, Peterson worked as a deputy district attorney in Las Vegas and later as a defense attorney at Amendola Doty & Brumley PLLC in Coeur d'Alene.
Education
- Clark Allen Peterson attended Washington and Lee University for his undergraduate studies and completed studies at Loyola Law School.
- Undergraduate education, Washington and Lee University
- Loyola Law School — J.D.
Additional information
- Re-elected 2020 with over 81 percent
- Under his leadership, the 1st District's domestic violence court, established in 2013, was recognized as a model of leadership by the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women in 2020.
- In 2013, concerns arose regarding his tabletop role-playing hobby, which some litigants claimed distracted him from his judicial duties.
- Retained 2012 with 81 percent
- Selected magistrate, Kootenai County, 2010
- He was admitted to the California Bar in 1994 and the Idaho Bar in 2001.
- Peterson’s career has also been marked by controversies.
- Peterson has presided over a variety of cases, including domestic violence matters.
- His gaming background has occasionally intersected with public perception of his judicial role, but he has maintained that it does not interfere with his professional responsibilities
- Clark A. Peterson is a long-serving magistrate judge in Idaho with a blend of legal expertise, community recognition, and public scrutiny.
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Exhibits
Statewide
Idaho's statewide electronic-filing rule generally requires text-searchable PDF or PDF/A submissions and a 50 MB per-document limit; scanned-image attachments and exhibits may use standard PDF and are not rejected for the usual text-searchability format requirement.
A document ... submitted electronically to the court must be in the form of a text-searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) or a text-searchable Portable Document Format/A (PDF/A) file ... and not exceed 50 megabytes. A document that is an attachment or exhibit ... may be in standard PDF format and need not be text searchable.Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service, Rule 6 ↗
Published courtroom rules
Shared court rules
Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service, Rule 6
Idaho Magistrate Division, Judicial District 1
Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-07-27Sources
Identity source checked July 27, 2026.
Biography sources checked July 27, 2026.
Idaho Supreme Court official judicial roster
Identity source · HTML · Source checked July 27, 2026
View Idaho Supreme Court official judicial roster ↗Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service, Rule 6
Statewide source · HTML · Source checked July 27, 2026
View Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service, Rule 6 ↗current_membership
Current Membership source · HTML · Source checked October 4, 2026
View current_membership ↗