The Idaho State Bar is conducting an ethics investigation into Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, following a complaint alleging an “adversarial relationship” with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Former Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen, who retired in December, filed the complaint in June 2023. Jeppesen’s complaint alleges Labrador’s office has effectively denied the state health department — Idaho’s largest government agency — with adequate legal representation following legal conflicts and investigations into the agency, which the attorney general must legally represent.
The conflicts have strained the state health department’s operations and created “a hostile situation where trust and confidence has been destroyed,” the former agency director’s complaint alleges.
The Idaho Statesman first reported on the investigation.
In a statement to the Idaho Capital Sun, Labrador’s office said it was cooperating with the Idaho State Bar, which can discipline attorneys. But Idaho Office of the Attorney General spokesperson Dan Estes called the complaint “baseless,” and said Labrador “is confident the complaint will be dismissed in due time.”