Felony vs Misdemeanor in Idaho: Penalties, Sentences and Probation

Idaho law divides crimes into just two groups, felonies and misdemeanors (Idaho Code 18-110), and defines a felony as "a crime which is punishable with death or by imprisonment in the state prison" (Idaho Code 18-111). Idaho has no lettered classes or degrees: each offense statute sets its own penalty, and only where it prescribes none do the defaults apply, up to 5 years and $50,000 for a felony (18-112) and up to 6 months and $1,000 for a misdemeanor (18-113).

Information last verified on 2026-10-17. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Idaho's crime classification and default penalty statutes (Idaho Code 18-110 to 18-113), felony sentencing and enhancements (Title 19, chapter 25), and probation (Title 19, chapter 26, and Idaho Code 20-219 and 20-222). It does not cover how individual offenses are graded (see the Idaho theft laws and Idaho assault and battery laws pages), time limits for charging a crime, record clearing, parole decisions, juvenile court, city and county ordinances, or federal offenses. For every state side by side, see felony and misdemeanor classes by state.

Felony vs misdemeanor in Idaho

Idaho Code 18-110 is short: "Crimes are divided into: 1. Felonies; and 2. Misdemeanors." Section 18-111 then supplies the definitions:

"A felony is a crime which is punishable with death or by imprisonment in the state prison. An infraction is a civil public offense, not constituting a crime, which is punishable only by a penalty not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) and for which no period of incarceration may be imposed. Every other crime is a misdemeanor." (Idaho Code 18-111)

The test is the place of punishment the offense statute allows, not a length of time. Idaho asks whether the offense statute allows death or state prison, not whether it allows more than one year. Whether a given offense is a felony therefore turns on its own penalty clause.

Idaho felony and misdemeanor penalty table

Because Idaho has no classes, the table shows the default penalties, which apply "Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by this code" (18-112, 18-113(1)), and two examples of offense statutes at the top of the scale.

These are the ranges for the offense category itself; Idaho Code 19-2514 and the enhancement statutes in 19-2520 to 19-2520G set higher ranges for some repeat convictions and aggravating facts, described below.

Two fine rules sit beside the defaults. For felonies, "the court may also impose a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)" in addition to the punishment in the specific statute, but "This section shall not apply if the specific felony statute provides for the imposition of a fine" (18-112A). Section 18-113(2) gives the same add-on authority, up to $1,000, for misdemeanors whose statutes set no fine.

The 5-year default is not a general felony cap. Many offense statutes set more, for example felony domestic battery with a traumatic injury, which carries up to 10 years and a $10,000 fine (18-918(2)), and a repeat DUI that qualifies under 18-8005(6), for example a third DUI within ten years, which carries up to 10 years and a fine of up to $5,000.

The top of the scale

"Every person guilty of murder of the first degree shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life" (18-4004). A death sentence may not be imposed unless the prosecutor filed written notice of intent to seek it under 18-4004A. If death is not imposed, the court must impose a fixed life sentence where a statutory aggravating circumstance is found but death would be unjust, and otherwise a life sentence with a minimum of at least 10 years during which there is no parole or good-time credit. Second degree murder carries "not less than ten (10) years and the imprisonment may extend to life" (18-4004).

Since July 1, 2025, Idaho Code 18-1508D provides that an adult "guilty of aggravated lewd conduct with a minor child twelve (12) years of age or under shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life," under the same notice requirement (2025 Idaho Sess. Laws ch. 177, H.B. 380). If death is not imposed, the statute calls for a fixed life sentence where three statutory aggravating circumstances are found but death would be unjust, and a life sentence with a minimum of not less than 30 years, without parole or good-time credit except for meritorious service, where two are found and death is not sought (18-1508D). In Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court held that "a death sentence for one who raped but did not kill a child, and who did not intend to assist another in killing the child, is unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments."

How an Idaho felony sentence is set

Idaho Code Title 19, chapter 25 sets felony terms through the unified sentence and a set of enhancement statutes rather than through a guideline grid. Under 19-2513(1), a court sentencing a felony to the custody of the state board of correction "shall specify a minimum period of confinement and may specify a subsequent indeterminate period of custody," and "the aggregate sentence shall not exceed the maximum provided by law."

The minimum is the part that must be served: "During a minimum term of confinement, the offender shall not be eligible for parole or discharge or credit or reduction of sentence for good conduct," with exceptions for meritorious service and medical parole (19-2513(1)). Where a statute sets a mandatory minimum, the court's minimum must be consistent with it, and all minimum terms for enhancements or consecutive sentences are served "before any indeterminate periods commence to run" (19-2513(2)). The statutory maximum is the outer limit, not the time a person necessarily serves.

Persistent violators

Idaho's habitual-offender statute is triggered by a third felony:

"Any person convicted for the third time of the commission of a felony, whether the previous convictions were had within the state of Idaho or were had outside the state of Idaho, shall be considered a persistent violator of law, and on such third conviction shall be sentenced to a term in the custody of the state board of correction which term shall be for not less than five (5) years and said term may extend to life." (Idaho Code 19-2514)

Sentence enhancements

Several statutes raise the maximum for the underlying crime. Each extra term applies only if the fact is separately charged and admitted or found true by the trier of fact.

• Firearm or deadly weapon: for listed felonies, including aggravated assault and battery, burglary, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, robbery and drug delivery or trafficking, the maximum increases by 15 years when the person "displayed, used, threatened, or attempted to use a firearm or other deadly weapon" (19-2520). It applies "even in those cases where the use of a firearm is an element of the offense."
• Great bodily injury: inflicting great bodily injury, intended or with reckless disregard, in committing or attempting a felony, or in a conspiracy to commit one, increases the maximum by 20 years, unless great bodily injury is an element of the offense of conviction (19-2520B).
• Repeat force crimes: extortion, kidnapping, rape or lewd conduct committed by force, violence, duress, menace or threat, after a prior such conviction, adds 15 years to the maximum, or 20 years after two or more prior prison terms for such crimes; no extension applies to a prior followed by 15 years free of prison custody, parole and felony convictions, and the 15-year extension does not apply when 19-2520B would (19-2520C).
• Repeat registrable sex offense: a registrable sex offense committed after a prior registrable offense carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years, which a court "shall not have the power to suspend, withhold, retain jurisdiction, or commute," running consecutive to any other sentence (19-2520G).

Convictions from other states count as if entered in Idaho where the offense could have been punished by state prison here (19-2520D), and a person convicted of two or more crimes covered by the enhancements in 19-2520 to 19-2520C arising from "the same indivisible course of conduct" may be subject to only one of those enhanced penalties (19-2520E).

Offense-specific repeat rules also exist. A second or later offense under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act may be punished by up to twice the authorized term and fine, and a prior drug conviction under any state or federal law counts (37-2739(a)-(b)). That doubling does not apply to a person subject to a fixed minimum term under 37-2739B: for a violation of 37-2732(a)(1)(A) after a prior such conviction, or with another listed aggravating factor such as a violation on or near school property or delivery to a minor, the court may impose a fixed minimum term of at least 5 years that may extend to life (37-2739B(b)).

Offenses outside the defaults

Every Idaho offense is, in effect, unclassified: its own statute sets its term and fine, and that statute controls. The defaults in 18-112 and 18-113 fill in only where the offense statute is silent, and the felony fine add-on in 18-112A applies only if the felony statute provides no fine.

Can an Idaho felony become a misdemeanor?

Idaho has two mechanisms. The first is built into the definition:

"When a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison is also punishable by fine or imprisonment in a county jail, in the discretion of the court, it shall be deemed a misdemeanor for all purposes after a judgment imposing a punishment other than imprisonment in the state prison." (Idaho Code 18-111)

Felony DUI is an exception: a repeat DUI under 18-8005(6) "shall be deemed a felony" "notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-111," and a sentence other than prison must include at least 30 days in county jail.

The second is post-probation reduction. A person convicted of a felony who has been discharged from probation "may apply to the sentencing court for a reduction of the conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor" (19-2604(3)(a)). The limits:

• If less than 5 years have passed since discharge, the prosecutor must stipulate to the reduction (19-2604(3)(b)).
• For listed serious offenses, including murder and robbery, the prosecutor must stipulate even after 5 years (19-2604(3)(c)).
• The court may grant it only if the person has no later felony conviction, is not currently charged with any crime, and shows good cause (19-2604(3)(d)).
• It is not available for any offense requiring sex offender registration under 18-8304 (19-2604(4)).

Separately, 19-2604(1)(b) lets a court, on a showing that the court did not find, and the person did not admit, a probation violation, or that the person graduated from a drug court or mental health court program, set aside the plea or conviction and dismiss the case, or amend a prison judgment so that it "may be deemed to be a misdemeanor conviction."

Infractions are not crimes

An Idaho infraction is "a civil public offense, not constituting a crime," punishable "only by a penalty not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300)," and "no period of incarceration may be imposed" (18-111).

Probation in Idaho

Options at sentencing

For any crime "except those of treason or murder," a district court may commute the sentence to county jail, suspend execution of the judgment and place the person on probation, withhold judgment and place the person on probation, or suspend execution of a prison sentence at any time during its first 365 days, and the court may retain jurisdiction over the person for up to that period (19-2601). A withheld judgment differs from a suspended sentence: with a withheld judgment, the court has not yet pronounced judgment (19-2603).

Probation is barred in other situations too. Among them:

• The 15-year mandatory minimum for a repeat registrable sex offense may not be suspended or withheld (19-2520G(3)).
• For drug trafficking under 37-2732B, "adjudication of guilt or the imposition or execution of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld" (37-2732B(8)).
• Since July 1, 2025, a person ordered to felony probation must be given notice that probation includes a waiver of Fourth Amendment rights and consent to warrantless searches of person, residence, vehicle, property and devices, and must accept those terms in writing; "If the defendant fails to agree and accept said terms, he shall be ineligible to be placed on probation" (19-2601B(1), (3), 2025 ch. 140).

How long probation lasts

Idaho Code 19-2601(7) sets the limits:

• Misdemeanor: "not more than two (2) years," which the court may extend to cover participation in a problem-solving court program and up to 1 year after graduation or termination.
• Felony: "not more than the maximum period for which the defendant might have been imprisoned."

Violations

When a court finds a violation, "it may, if judgment has been withheld, pronounce any judgment which it could originally have pronounced, or, if judgment was originally pronounced but suspended, revoke probation," and time at large under a suspended sentence does not count toward the sentence (19-2603). Under 20-222(2), the court may revoke and "cause the sentence imposed to be executed," continue probation, or "impose any sentence which originally might have been imposed," and must "consider the defendant's risks and needs and options for treatment in the community." Neither section sets a separate cap on jail time for a technical violation.

The Board of Correction must keep a matrix of "swift, certain and graduated sanctions," imposed without a hearing, that can include confinement in a local correctional facility "for no more than three (3) consecutive days" (20-219(7)(b)). A bench warrant may issue at any time "within the longest period for which the defendant might have been originally sentenced" (19-2602).

Recent changes to Idaho's sentencing statutes

• 2025 ch. 177 (H.B. 380), effective July 1, 2025: created aggravated lewd conduct offenses in 18-1508B to 18-1508E, made the offense against a child twelve or under punishable by death or life (18-1508D), and amended the capital sentencing statute, 19-2515.
• 2025 ch. 140 (H.B. 187), effective July 1, 2025: added 19-2601B, under which a person ordered to felony probation who does not accept its search-waiver terms in writing is ineligible for probation.
• 2025 ch. 171 (S.B. 1099), effective July 1, 2025: amended the vehicular manslaughter and DUI penalty sections, including 18-4007 and 18-8005.
• 2026 ch. 40 (S.B. 1226), effective July 1, 2026: added 19-2512A, which requires the court to order a DNA sample and thumbprint impression from a person convicted of, or pleading guilty to, a "serious crime" as defined in 19-5502(10).
• 2026 ch. 79 (S.B. 1240): the guardianship act changes a cross-reference in 18-1508B and 19-2515 (to the definitions in section 66-402) when it takes effect on January 1, 2027.

The classification and default-penalty sections were last amended in 2014 (18-111) and 2005 (18-113), and the persistent violator statute, 19-2514, in 1970.

Federal firearms consequence

Federal law bars firearm possession by a person convicted of "a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)); the term excludes a state offense classified as a misdemeanor and punishable by two years or less, and what counts as a conviction is determined by the law of the convicting jurisdiction (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20)). Separately, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) bars possessing a firearm or ammunition after a conviction in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33) defines it, whatever the misdemeanor's maximum sentence. The felony and misdemeanor classes hub covers the federal classes.

Related legal issues

Because Idaho grades offenses one statute at a time, the Idaho theft laws page shows how theft splits between felony and misdemeanor, and the Idaho assault and battery laws page does the same for assault and battery. Clearing a record is covered on the Idaho expungement laws page. Because murder and persistent violator sentences can extend to life, the Idaho life sentence page explains how those terms work.

Related pages

• Felony and misdemeanor classes by state
• Idaho theft laws
• Idaho assault and battery laws
• Idaho expungement laws
• How long is a life sentence in Idaho
• Washington felony and misdemeanor classes
• Nevada felony and misdemeanor classes

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Idaho's crime classification, sentencing and probation statutes as of 2026-10-17. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Idaho.

Last updated: 2026-10-17.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor in Idaho?

Under Idaho Code 18-111, a felony is a crime punishable with death or by imprisonment in the state prison, and every other crime is a misdemeanor. A crime that may be punished either by state prison or by fine or county jail becomes a misdemeanor for all purposes after a judgment imposing something other than state prison.

Does Idaho have felony classes?

No. Idaho Code 18-110 divides crimes only into felonies and misdemeanors, and each offense statute sets its own penalty. Where an offense statute sets no different punishment, a felony carries up to 5 years and $50,000 (18-112); repeat-offender and enhancement statutes, such as the persistent violator rule in 19-2514 (at least 5 years and up to life on a third felony), can raise that.

Is there a Class A misdemeanor in Idaho?

No. Idaho has one misdemeanor category. Unless the offense statute prescribes a different punishment, a misdemeanor carries up to 6 months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (Idaho Code 18-113(1)).

Is an infraction a crime in Idaho?

No. Idaho Code 18-111 defines an infraction as a civil public offense, not constituting a crime, punishable only by a penalty of up to $300, with no period of incarceration.

Can a felony be reduced to a misdemeanor in Idaho?

Yes, in limited ways. Under 18-111, a crime punishable by state prison or by fine or county jail is deemed a misdemeanor after a non-prison judgment, and under 19-2604(3) a person discharged from probation may apply to have a felony reduced to a misdemeanor; the prosecutor must agree within 5 years of discharge and, for listed serious offenses, at any time, and the relief is not available for offenses requiring sex offender registration (19-2604(4)).

How long is probation in Idaho?

For a misdemeanor, up to 2 years, which the court may extend for problem-solving court participation and up to 1 year after; for a felony, up to the maximum period for which the person might have been imprisoned (Idaho Code 19-2601(7)). Probation is not available for murder or treason (19-2601), and other statutes, such as 19-2520G and 37-2732B, bar it for certain offenses.

What happens if you violate probation in Idaho?

If judgment was withheld, the court may pronounce any judgment it could originally have pronounced; if a sentence was imposed and suspended, the court may revoke probation and have the sentence executed (Idaho Code 19-2603, 20-222). The Board of Correction may also impose graduated sanctions without a hearing, including up to three consecutive days in a local jail (20-219(7)(b)).

What is a persistent violator in Idaho?

Under Idaho Code 19-2514, a person convicted of a felony for the third time, counting convictions inside or outside Idaho, is a persistent violator and must be sentenced to at least 5 years in state custody, and the term may extend to life.

What is a withheld judgment in Idaho?

Idaho Code 19-2601(3) lets a court withhold judgment and place a person on probation, which is different from imposing a sentence and suspending it. If probation is violated after a withheld judgment, the court may pronounce any judgment it could originally have pronounced (19-2603).