Joint Finance committee reviews Idaho State Police budget requests, highlights staffing shortfalls and fentanyl initiatives

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 examined the Idaho State Policebudget request and heard agency leaders outline enhancements, funding shifts and staffing shortages that officials say affect patrol coverage across the state.

Noah Peterson, a budget policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, walked the committee through ISPbudget pages and a list of enhancement requests, including a proposed unit focused on fentanyl trafficking, a special investigations unit for Idaho Department of Correction facilities, and a request to shift nearly $4.995 million and 37.48 full-time positions (FTP) away from the Highway Distribution Account (HDA) into general fund support for patrol operations.

Why it matters: Committee members repeatedly pressed agency leaders on trooper vacancy rates, regional coverage and whether requested dollars will translate into on-the-ground capacity in rural areas. Board-level funding decisions and the proposed HDA transfer would directly affect patrol staffing and forensic capacity statewide.

Peterson told the committee the ISP division requested a range of enhancements for fiscal 2026, among them 2 fleet-service FTP ($63,300 net), a 4-person special investigations unit to handle IDOC facility investigations ($757,300 total; $443,300 ongoing; $314,000 one-time), a forensic deputy lab manager (1 FTP, $118,200), an estimated $168,100 to cover DNA-collection costs tied to proposed changes in misdemeanor reporting, and $4,995,500 and 37.48 FTP tied to the HDA fund shift that the agency says would be needed "to maintain current operations" for the patrol program.

Colonel Bill Gardner, director of the Idaho State Police, told the committee ISP is struggling to fill patrol vacancies and is losing troopers to local agencies and other states. "We are genuinely struggling with what we pay our troopers compared to what the cities and counties around them do," Gardner said, adding that some Northern Idaho posts are severely underfilled and that the agency is deploying troopers from other regions for short-term coverage.

Gardner described operational results from a drug-interdiction team: "Over the last year, we've seized over 65,000 fentanyl pills, over a pound of fentanyl powder, 150 pounds of methamphetamine," and he noted a recent single operation seized 50 pounds of methamphetamine. He said those saturation patrols are an intentional strategy to target high-traffic drug corridors.

Agency officials described changes to how some investigators are hired. Peterson said a planned approach to contract retired peace officers to investigate sexual-assault kits was revised because contractors would not be POST-certified; the agency will instead hire permanent employees to allow POST certification and proper investigative privileges. That request is a net-zero transfer from operating to personnel costs for the initiative.

Other notable items in the presentation: - An ISP supplemental of $268,100 for a remote housing unit: the agency originally planned the unit for Mackay but notified Legislative Services and DFM in December 2024 that it would place the unit in Fairfield with no change in requested dollars; the governor recommended the same amount. - An Idaho Law Enforcement Telecommunications (ILETS) disaster-recovery database request of $233,000 from the ILETS fund to maintain a backup site to preserve access to critical records if the main site fails. - An appropriation shift of $659,700 of federal funds to miscellaneous revenue for certain contracts that the agency says are structured as nonfederal. - A governor recommendation of $500,000 one-time from the Millennium Fund for a "fentanyl takes all" communications campaign; DFM confirmed the governor recommended it as one-time funding and the Millennium Fund committee will consider the request.

Officials fielded multiple committee questions about the OITS modernization request, which originally proposed transferring 20 IT FTP to the Office of Information Technology Services and was reduced in the governorrecommendation to 16 FTP; Peterson said he would follow up with precise details, and Senator Cook and others asked for job-grade and scope information to ensure needed in-agency IT support is preserved.

Christine Otto, the ISP chief financial officer, told the panel that converting some contractor positions to full-time employees largely preserves current spending levels but allows personnel to obtain post certification required for certain investigative roles.

Committee members repeatedly raised staffing and retention as central concerns. Peterson's earlier slides showed ISP had roughly 583.67 FTP and a multi-year average fill rate of about 92.5 percent, while committee members and the director described localized vacancy and turnover problems that are materially higher in some districts. Senator Woodward and others warned they would pursue additional funding proposals to address recruitment and retention.

What happens next: The committee will consider governor and agency requests in its budget deliberations; several members asked for follow-up materials from Legislative Services and the agency on OITS transfers, federal fund accounting, and the status and capabilities of planned forensic lab construction the agency described for Meridian and a renovation in Twin Falls.

Ending note: Gardner thanked the committee for prior trooper compensation increases and identified continuing work with DHR and DFM to propose longer-term pay and retention solutions.