About Us
Public Health's Mission
Healthy People in Healthy Communities
To PREVENT disease, disability, and premature death;
To PROMOTE healthy lifestyles, and;
To PROTECT the health and quality of the environment
Idaho’s seven Public Health Districts were established in 1970 under Chapter 4, Title 39, Idaho Code. They were created to ensure essential public health services are made available to protect the health of all citizens of the State—no matter how large their county population.
It is legislative intent that health districts operate and be recognized not as state agencies or departments, but as governmental entities whose creation has been authorized by the state, much in the manner as other single purpose districts.
For the purposes of this chapter, a public health district is not a subdivision of the state and shall be considered an independent body corporate and politic pursuant to section 1, article VIII, of the constitution of the state of Idaho, and is not authorized hereby to levy taxes nor to obligate the state of Idaho concerning such financing.
The law (IDAPA 39-409) stipulates that Public Health Districts provide the basic services of public health education, physical health, environmental health and health administration. However, the law does not restrict the districts solely to these categories.