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Parole commissioners seek pay bump as workload and turnover rise
Summary
The Commission of Pardons and Parole asked the committee to support legislation raising commissioner pay from $300 to $400 per hearing day, citing rising workload, substantial unpaid preparation time and upcoming commissioner departures.
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole told the Joint Finance Preparations Committee on Feb. 4 it seeks statutory authority to raise commissioners’ daily pay from $300 to $400, citing heavy workloads, significant unpaid preparation time and difficulty recruiting candidates.
Noah Peterson of the Legislative Services Office summarized the commission’s request and noted that the commission delivered 6,670 decisions in FY2024, compared with 5,907 in 2017 when the pay was last increased. He also reminded the committee that House Bill 462 (2024) moved the Commission out of the Department of Correction and into the Department of Self‑Governing Agencies, as recorded in agency materials.
Christine Starr, executive director of the commission, told the committee commissioners typically hold hearings three weeks each month and are paid only for the hearing days themselves. She provided a staff analysis showing commissioners spend an estimated 26 hours preparing for each five‑day block of hearings — roughly 3.25 days of unpaid preparatory work per week of hearings. “By statute our commissioners are only paid for the time that they are in hearing,” Starr said.
Starr said candidate screening has identified inadequate compensation as a common reason for declining appointment. The commission requested $59,300 fiscal impact for a pay increase that would be enacted by statute; Peterson said the governor recommended the requested pay increase but the agency had to limit the amount requested to remain within the Division of Financial Management’s 3% general‑fund growth ceiling.
Starr, who has been executive director for a little over three months, warned the commission could lose more than half its members by December and described the pay request as “a band aid to a much, much larger issue” of maintaining a trained, part‑time commission that must also do preparatory work and training. She said the commission will review models and submit recommendations on processes, transparency and training to improve decision quality.
