The Hon. Deborah A. Bail (Ret.) was a judge for the 4th Judicial District Court of Idaho. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor John Evans in 1983. Bail retired on May 31, 2021.
The 4th Judicial District includes Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley Counties.
During her judicial tenure, Bail was a pro tem on the Idaho Supreme Court and the Idaho Court of Appeals and managed the Ada County Drug Court.
Prior to her appointment, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho since 1978. Before her time as a federal prosecutor, Bail briefly participated in a joint project with the Office of Aging and Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. (1977) and was a Fellow with the Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship (1974 to 1977).
She received a B.A. in history from Lewis & Clark College in 1971. Bail then completed a J.D. at Lewis & Clark Law School in 1974.
She was a faculty judge for the University of Virginia College of Trial Advocacy and a presenter at the Osher Institute on Criminal Sentencing. Bail also served as a member of the Idaho Civil Rules Committee, the Judicial Fairness Committee, the Judicial Education Committee, the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee, the Gender Fairness Task Force, and the Idaho Law Foundation’s Law Related Education Committee (chair). In addition, she is a past president of the Idaho District Judges Association.
Bail was born in Wichita, Kansas. Her father was an engineer, and her mother earned a degree in archaeology. The family later relocated to Hawaii, where Bail initially matriculated for two years at the University of Hawaii before transferring to Portland, Oregon, to complete her undergraduate degree. She has a daughter, whom she adopted from India.