COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee passed a new bylaw in November that would allow the committee to replace an elected committeeman for missing more than six meetings in a 12-month period.

The problem is, the bylaw might not be legal, according to a legal review conducted by Idaho State Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene.

Kootenai County Republican Central Committeeman Matt Roetter said on Tuesday that he challenged the central committee's legal authority to unseat an elected committeeman, but was told at the time it was passed that state Republican Party officials reviewed the bylaw and found it to be legal.

That wasn't good enough for Roetter, so he sought a second opinion from Malek, a former Kootenai County prosecuting attorney.

"You asked me to investigate whether there was authority for the KCRCC to remove an elected committeeman of KCRCC for any reason, and specifically for failure to attend meetings of the body," Malek said in a letter to Roetter dated Feb. 8. "Under Idaho statute, there is no such removal authority."

He went on to say that Idaho law clearly spells out the powers and duties of the central committee and is silent on the issue of removing an elected central committeeman.

Furthermore, he said there is no case law created by the courts on that specific issue either.

"Given the clear delegation of such authorities, the clear statement of term for a committeeman in statute, and the silence in regards to any power to remove an officer, I am confident in my analysis," Malek wrote. "Until the issue is litigated in a court of law, there is no absolute certainty on any analysis."

However, Malek said in his opinion, if a committeeman is removed under that bylaw that committee person would likely prevail in court challenging the KCRCC's statutory authority.

Roetter said based on that opinion, he wants the central committee to revisit the issue and remove the bylaw.

"What makes this an issue for me is that I asked if the committee got a legal opinion, and I was told that they did," Roetter said, referring to an email exchange he had with Tony Wisniewski, vice chairman of the KCRCC.

"I sent a written copy of the referenced section to the Party. I requested that the Idaho Republican Party legal counsel review it and comment on its merits," Wisniewski wrote in the email. "After the review, I received a telephone call from Josh Whitworth, then executive director of the Idaho Republican Party, who stated that the 'proposed declaration of vacancy rule was legally acceptable.'"

Trevor Thorpe, the new executive director of the state party, said that all transpired before he took over as executive director, but he has looked into the issue at Roetter's request.

He said party officials did look at the proposed bylaw, but never got a legal opinion on it.

"They laid out the legal situation, but no official legal opinion was given," Thorpe said on Tuesday. "What they found was sort of a gray area, and that rule fell within that gray area."

He said the party also found that there was no case law, much the same as Malek did.

Roetter said that is all the more reason to revisit the bylaws and remove that clause.

"This is a central committee that is in rogue mode," Roetter said. "They are continually pushing things too far."

Roetter said he was going to try and bring the issue up at Tuesday night's central committee meeting, but it wasn't on the agenda.

"They are not being honest about this stuff. I try and bring these issues up and I get stonewalled," he said. "I want to get to the bottom of this, so I will bring it up at the next meeting."