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JFAC approves Idaho State Police budget enhancements including housing, fund shift and 6% targeted raise for commissioned and forensics staff
Summary
The committee approved multiple Idaho State Police (ISP) enhancements: a one-time remote housing unit for Fairfield, a law-enforcement fund-to-general-fund shift, personnel transfers, replacement items and a targeted 6% salary increase for commissioned officers and forensic staff. The package passed on combined roll calls.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a package of Idaho State Police budget requests that includes a $268,100 one-time supplemental to purchase a remote housing unit for Fairfield, a fund shift moving $5,205,800 from the Idaho Law Enforcement Fund to the general fund, personnel transfers between programs, replacement-item authority (driven largely by vehicle purchases), IT hardware, and a targeted 6% salary increase for commissioned officers and forensic staff.
Deputy analyst Noah Peterson presented the ISP requests. He said the Fairfield remote housing unit will be placed on a foundation (a change from earlier plan) and that the governor recommended the item. The package also included conversion of some part-time fleet positions to full-time, creation of special investigations positions tied to investigations at IDOC facilities, addition of a forensic deputy lab manager, and a request to fund an ILETS disaster recovery database.
A prominent item in the motion was a fiscal shift moving certain law-enforcement-dedicated fund authority onto the general fund for this year as part of a multi-year transition; committee members noted this is the last year of that highway-distribution-fund shift. The motion also included a net reduction of 8 FTP across the agency, replacement-item authority of roughly $5.09 million (mainly vehicles and body armor) and $942,800 for IT hardware.
The committee adopted a targeted 6% salary increase for commissioned officers and forensic staff; the motion sponsor said this step was intended to address recruitment and retention pressures in those classifications. The full motion passed on combined roll calls with a recorded total of 18 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent/excused across the two committees.
Votes and next steps: The committee passed the ISP package and without objection carried a due-pass recommendation to the floor. ISP will proceed to implement the approved purchases and staffing transfers, subject to hiring timelines and procurement rules. The Fairfield housing site and personnel allocations will be managed by ISP as laid out in its internal implementation plans.
Ending: Members praised the work on the package and noted the fund-shift transition will conclude this fiscal year; the committee asked ISP and analysts to follow up on implementation details as procurements and hires proceed.
