Committee approves bill giving Attorney General authority to investigate election crimes

Representative Joe Alfieri introduced House Bill 365 as a narrowly written measure that would allow the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute violations of Chapter 23, Title 18 and Title 34 of the Idaho Code—statutes the sponsor described as covering election crimes and elections. “The bill says the Attorney General may investigate and prosecute all criminal and civil violations of Chapter 23, Title 18, Idaho Code and Title 34 of the Idaho Code,” Alfieri said.

Alfieri emphasized the word “may,” saying the bill is permissive, not mandatory, and is intended to supplement county prosecutors and the Secretary of State rather than supplant them. He added the authority could be useful if additional resources are needed for complex or statewide prosecutions.

Jeff Knight, chief of the Criminal Law Division in the Attorney General’s Office, answered committee questions about coordination with local prosecutors and other law-enforcement agencies. Knight described standard deconfliction practices that prevent duplicative investigations and said the office would assess whether it has jurisdiction and whether an investigation is in the public interest before stepping in. “There is almost always going to be overlapping jurisdiction. ... A routine and critical part of any criminal investigation is called deconfliction,” Knight said.

Members asked whether this step would create parallel investigations or step on local prosecutors’ authority. Knight said existing processes address those concerns and that the AG’s office already handles concurrent matters in other areas where the legislature has granted jurisdiction.

Representative Hostetler moved to send House Bill 365 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. Two representatives were recorded in the transcript as voting no on the committee motion.