SANDPOINT — Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale and Prosecutor Louis Marshall announced on Tuesday that the county is asking a judge to resolve a dispute over dueling maps delineating trustee zones for the West Bonner County School District.

The dispute arose on Sept. 6, when the school district attempted to switch the trustee zone map, pulling the rug out from under candidates that had relied on the county’s trustee zone map. The attempted switch came after the election was well underway and on the last day candidates could declare their candidacy.

Rosedale said the school district never provided a legal description of the boundaries as required by Idaho Code.

“Mr. Rosedale and Mr. Marshall have concluded that switching the map after the election had already begun would create uncertainty and undermine the public trust in the election process,” the county said in a news release.

Rosedale and Marshall formed their opinion after consulting with the Idaho Secretary of State, which advised that the map in effect at the time the election began was the proper map to control the election.

“We had to go with the map that we had,” Rosedale said after meeting with county commissioners on Tuesday.

Rosedale added that state law requires county clerks to manage elections to achieve and maintain a maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, efficiency and uniformity. Switching maps, he said, would breach those duties.

“Mr. Rosedale also expressed concern over the fact that if the map was switched mid-stream as the school district demands, then at least one zone would have no candidate — even though a candidate declared and was declared certified by the school district’s clerk as being eligible to run — and the sitting school district trustees would themselves fill the seat, bypassing entirely the public election process,” the county’s news release said.

The county attempted to resolve the matter with the school district and opted to seek a declaratory judgment after there were public reports that the school district was preparing to file suit against the clerk’s office.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.