COEUR d'ALENE - The city of Coeur d'Alene has asked the county to back off from its decision to sue the city and its four elected officials who are the targets of an ongoing recall initiative.

In a letter sent Wednesday by Coeur d'Alene Deputy City Attorney Warren Wilson to Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh and Civil Deputy Prosecutor R. David Ferguson, Wilson asks the prosecutors to drop the suit, and alleges that Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes has violated Idaho Code 34-202 that compels county clerks to follow the "directives and instructions" given to them by the Secretary of State.

Wilson calls for the county prosecutors to investigate Hayes' alleged violation.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Hayes has not followed the instructions from the Secretary of State's office ... Mr. Hayes continues to disregard this instruction as a 'city opinion' and continues to insert himself into a process that, by statute, is to be administered by the City Clerk," Wilson wrote.

The lawsuit, a court petition filed by McHugh's office earlier this week on behalf of the county clerk, asks for a judge to declare how many days recall petitioners have to collect signatures, and how many days the clerk's office has to examine and certify them.

"If you read the petition, you can see that we are only concerned with getting an answer to the question relating to the number of days the clerk's office has to examine the signatures," McHugh told The Press.

The Coeur d'Alene city clerk and the county clerk disagree in their interpretations of the recall election law, specifically whether the 15 days the law allows for the county clerk's office to review signatures collected by the petitioners falls within the 75 days the law allows for the petitioners to gather the signatures.

Idaho Secretary of State Tim Hurst sent a letter to the city last week advising that his office agrees with the city's stance that the 15 days falls within the 75 days.

Hurst also wrote that when the recall statutes were amended in 2004, a reference to "certified signatures" was not removed, so the statute requires the petitions with certified signatures be submitted within 75 days, so the 75 days includes the 15 days.

In his letter, Coeur d'Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson also claims that by filing the lawsuit, it appears the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office has "taken sides in the recall petition drive," and created the perception that the city and the four officials named as respondents in the court document have done something illegal or behaved unethically.

McHugh said the county is not taking a side, and does not have a position on the recall.

After his office received the city's letter, McHugh said they called the Secretary of State's office, and they are expecting a letter from that office next week.

"They indicated they did not consider the communication they've had to be 'directives or instructions,'" McHugh said. "So, while we're going to await the letter to make sure it confirms what we believe, at this point we wouldn't be conducting an investigation or asking anyone to conduct an investigation."

If the Secretary of State's office comes back with a directive or instructions as indicated under Idaho Statute 34-202, McHugh said the county would follow that instruction.