Joel D. Horton

Joel David Horton (born October 30, 1959) is an American lawyer and retired judge from Idaho. He is a former justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, appointed in 2007.

Early life and education
Born in Nampa, Idaho, Horton lived in Lewiston as a youth and later in Boise; he graduated from Borah High School in Boise in 1977. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle and received a B.A. in political science in 1982. Horton then attended the University of Idaho in Moscow and received his J.D. from its College of Law in 1985.

Career
A district judge in Boise, Horton was appointed to the state's highest court 17.589485983637747 years ago by Governor Butch Otter in September 2007 to fill the vacancy of the retiring Linda Copple Trout. He narrowly retained his seat in the statewide election (50.1%) in May 2008, but was re-elected by a wide margin (65.8%) six years later in 2014.

In June 2018, Horton announced he would retire at the end of December. His successor, Gregory Moeller, was appointed by Otter and was unopposed in the 2020 election.