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Idaho parole commission asks legislature to raise commissioner pay as workload outpaces compensation
Summary
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole asked the Joint Finance Preparations Committee to support legislation raising commissioners' per‑day pay from $300 to $400, citing heavy caseloads, uncompensated preparation time and upcoming commissioner turnover.
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole asked the Joint Finance Preparations Committee on Feb. 4 to support a statutory pay increase for volunteer commissioners, arguing current compensation does not reflect the work required to prepare for and conduct hearings.
Noah Peterson of the Legislative Services Office summarized the commission’s FY2026 requests: the commission is asking the Legislature to increase per‑day commissioner pay from $300 to $400. The change would require statutory amendment and the governor’s recommendation captured the cost of the increase within the executive budget framework; LSO estimated the fiscal impact if enacted at roughly $59,300 annually.
Commission workload and compensation concerns Executive Director Christine Starr, who has led the commission for just over three months, told the committee commissioners typically hold hearings three weeks per month across the full year and are paid only for time spent in formal hearings. She said commissioners spend significant unpaid time preparing: the commission’s internal estimates equated five days of hearings to about 26 hours of prep work — roughly 3.25 days of uncompensated preparation per hearing week.
Peterson noted activity increases: commissioners issued about 5,907 decisions in 2017 and 6,670 decisions in the most recent completed fiscal year (FY2024), and the commission said candidate declination because of low pay is a recruitment problem. Director Starr said she expects more than half the commission to turn over by December and characterized the pay increase request as a partial remedy to retention and recruitment challenges while she studies longer‑term structural options.
Other asks The commission also requested nine replacement laptops (about $12,600) recommended by the Office of Information Technology Services.
What was not decided The committee did not enact legislation at the hearing; the pay increase would require a statutory change and approval by the Legislature to take effect.
Ending: Director Starr told lawmakers she is reviewing commission models and decision‑making frameworks and said the pay increase request is a near‑term step to maintain an experienced and functioning commission while broader changes are considered.
