Idaho State Police request staffing, forensic lab and technology changes as vacancies rise

Colonel Bill Gardner, director of the Idaho State Police, and Legislative Services Office analysts briefed the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 about the division’s fiscal 2026 enhancement requests and ongoing budget pressures, as well as staffing shortfalls in several regions.

Analyst Noah Peterson said the division has seven budgeted programs and about 583.67 full‑time positions (FTP) allocated to it. Peterson described several requested enhancements for fiscal 2026: a 10‑member fentanyl trafficking unit ($1,043,300 and 10 FTP); conversion of temporary forensic contractors to full‑time staff; a special investigations unit to handle criminal investigations at Department of Correction facilities (4 FTP, $757,300 total of which $443,300 ongoing and $314,000 one‑time); a forensic deputy lab manager (1 FTP, $118,200); anticipated costs related to legislation expanding DNA collection (estimated $168,100); and a request to shift $4,995,500 and 37.48 FTP from the Law Enforcement Fund because of prior changes to the highway distribution account under Senate Bill 1201 of 2019.

Peterson also described a supplemental request of $268,100 for a remote housing unit (originally planned for Mackay; ISP now plans Fairfield), fleet‑service conversions (2 FTP, $63,300 net), the transfer of the digital forensics team into Forensic Services (2 FTP, net $203,700), funding for an ILETS disaster recovery site ($233,000 ongoing), and a $50,000 federal grant request to comply with SORNA (the Adam Walsh Act).

Gardner told the committee the agency has increased activity against illegal drugs and is asking for resources to sustain operations. “We’ve seized over 65,000 fentanyl pills, over a pound of fentanyl powder and 150 pounds of methamphetamine from this specific team,” Gardner said, describing concentrated interdiction “saturation” operations.

Lawmakers pressed Gardner and agency financial officers on persistent vacancy and retention problems in several parts of Idaho. Gardner said staffing is “decimated” in parts of northern Idaho and that the agency struggles to recruit, especially where municipal and county pay is higher. “We put all this time and energy into making what I think is the cream of the crop and somebody scoops them up and takes them to another agency,” Gardner said, describing training costs and turnover as a major concern.

Chief Financial Officer Christine Otto and analyst Peterson answered questions about federal grants and expenditure timing; they said some federal contract revenues are being rebudgeted and that they would follow up with details for committee members. Administrator Lori Wolf of the Division of Financial Management clarified the governor’s recommendation for the fentanyl public‑education campaign (the “fentanyl takes all” campaign) is a one‑time $500,000 operating appropriation from the Millennium Fund, subject to the Millennium Fund process.

Members asked about modernization and IT centralization; Peterson described a request to consolidate some ISP IT positions under the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS) and noted the governor recommended transferring 16 positions rather than the 20 the agency originally proposed. Senator Cook and other members raised concerns about a potential “shadow IT” and whether critical in‑agency application support should remain at ISP.

Gardner also described ongoing and planned laboratory investments. He said ISP is building a new, larger forensic laboratory in Meridian that will allow staff and equipment to move out of an older facility, and that a smaller lab renovation in Twin Falls will support local drug‑identification work. On questions about the laboratory’s ability to quantify fentanyl in samples, Gardner said he would obtain a technical update for the committee.

The committee did not take a formal roll‑call vote on ISP’s requests during the presentation. Members asked for additional detail on vacancy and turnover rates, federal fund spending patterns for the sexual assault kit initiative and the operational impact of the requested Highway Distribution Account shift. Gardner said he will continue to work with the committee and state agencies and praised troopers’ work, noting one trooper had been nominated as a finalist for national recognition.