---
title: "Debora K. Grasham | KnowJudges"
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updated: "2026-10-08"
---

# Debora K. Grasham

U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho · U.S. Magistrate Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho
- State: Idaho
- Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-29

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court - District of Idaho, from 2022-04-01
- United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, appointed on April 1, 2022
- Began service as US magistrate judge for the District of Idaho on April 1, 2022
- Before her judicial appointment, Judge Grasham was a partner at Givens Pursley, LLP in Boise, Idaho, for over 22 years

### Education



### Additional information

- Practitioner, Givens Pursley, 1999–2022
- Awards include Distinguished Lawyer (2021), Kate Feltham (2005) and federal bar Exemplary Service (2011).
- Practitioner, Davis Wright Tremaine, 1996–1999
- handling commercial litigation, employment, First Amendment, privacy and media matters; earlier she practiced at Davis Wright Tremaine in Boise and Seattle (1990–1999).
- Practitioner, Davis Wright Tremaine, 1990–1996
- J.D. — Univ. of Santa Clara — 1990
- B.A. — Univ. of California, Berkeley — 1987
- handling commercial litigation and employment matters with a focus on First Amendment, privacy, and media law.
- She graduated from UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University School of Law, serving as law review editor-in-chief.
- Her leadership included Idaho State Bar president, Richard C. Fields Inns of Court president, Ninth Circuit historical society chair, and Idaho Legal History Society president.
- She has extensive service in support of the federal courts, including as a Lawyer Representative for the District of Idaho and on the Ninth Circuit’s Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### civil remote testimony

Scope: courtwide

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

[Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### criminal recording and broadcasting

Scope: courtwide

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

[Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=98)
- [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=98)
- [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=98)
- [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
- [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
- [Official biography source for Debora K. Grasham](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=98)
- [BR/MAG Judge Database: Debora Kristensen Grasham](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json)
- [www.id.uscourts.gov](https://www.id.uscourts.gov/district/judges/grasham/)
- [Official biography source for Debora K. Grasham](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=98)
- [BR/MAG Judge Database: Debora Kristensen Grasham](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json)

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## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
