Senate confirms three gubernatorial appointees, holds several others for one legislative day

BOISE — The Idaho Senate on Tuesday adopted committee reports and confirmed three gubernatorial appointments: Kirk Nelson to the offender management board, Kurt Liebeck to the State Board of Education, and Thomas Mello to the State Building Authority. Other nominations were held on the calendar for one legislative day or referred to committees.

Senator Van Orden opened the floor discussion for Kirk Nelson’s confirmation, describing Nelson’s background with the Pocatello Police Department and work on polygraph testing for offenders. Van Orden said Nelson had been certified by the board for about 20 years and “had done 60,000 polygraph tests,” and argued that Nelson’s experience would help expand treatment models and reduce recidivism in offender populations. Following brief debate, the Senate adopted the committee report by…