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David Birch Interviews for Offender Management Board Seat; Vote Deferred
Summary
David Birch, an Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections employee with 28 years of corrections experience, appeared before the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee to introduce himself as a nominee to the Offender Management Board; the committee deferred a confirmation vote to a later meeting.
David Birch, a longtime employee of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, appeared before the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee to introduce himself as a nominee to the state's Offender Management Board.
At the start of the hearing, the committee chair asked Birch to state his name and explain his interest. Birch said, "My name is David Birch, and I'm currently with the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections. I've worked in the justice system in the state of Idaho for just over 28 years now, working both with adolescent and adult populations." He described past roles including probation officer and supervisor and said those roles gave him experience working with treatment providers, evaluators and polygraph examiners.
The committee and Birch discussed the functions of the Offender Management Board. "The role of the SOMB is, to be a regulatory, board for, evaluators, for treatment providers, and for polygraph examiners," Birch said, adding the board helps ensure quality by regulating those who treat and evaluate the populations served.
Senators asked Birch about a program referred to in the hearing transcript as the "Rider" program. Asked whether he was familiar with it, Birch answered, "yes, I am familiar with the Rider program," and described it as an option judges can use to send certain defendants to an institution for treatment and then evaluate whether they can return to community supervision.
The committee did not take a final vote at the hearing. The chair thanked Birch and said the committee "takes up our vote on appointments at the following meetings," indicating the nomination will be voted on at a later session.
The committee took no other formal action on the nomination during the meeting; no enrollment, confirmation or vote tally was recorded in the transcript for this hearing.
Looking ahead, record and procedural steps for this appointment will be decided at the future meeting when the committee votes on pending appointments.
