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Parole commissioners seek higher pay; agency warns of unpaid preparation time and turnover
Summary
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole asked the committee to support legislation raising commissioner pay from $300 to $400 per hearing day; the commission’s executive director told lawmakers commissioners spend substantial unpaid hours preparing for hearings and the agency expects significant turnover.
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole has asked the Joint Finance Preparations Committee to back legislation that would raise the daily pay for commissioners from $300 to $400, the agency’s executive director told lawmakers on Feb. 4.
Christine Starr, executive director of the Commission of Pardons and Parole, said the change would require a statutory amendment and that commissioners last received a pay increase in 2017. The governor has recommended the pay increase contingent on the required legislation.
Starr described commissioners’ workload during the hearing and told the committee that commissioners are compensated only for days when they are in hearing. “By statute our commissioners are only paid for the time that they are in hearing,” Starr said, and she explained that commissioners spend significant unpaid time preparing: the agency’s analysis estimated about 26 hours of preparation for every five hearing days, which the agency equated to roughly 3.25 unpaid workdays per hearing week.
The commission also noted operational concerns: the executive director said she expects to lose more than half of the commission by the end of the year, creating a near-term turnover and experience gap. During testimony, Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst for the Legislative Services Office, reported that commissioners delivered about 6,670 decisions in the most recent completed fiscal year compared with about 5,907 decisions in 2017, indicating workload has grown.
The commission’s other modest budget requests were limited to nine laptops recommended by the Office of Information Technology Services. Starr said she will review commission processes and decision-making frameworks as she assumes the new executive director role and plans to study commission models and training to improve consistency and transparency.
Committee members acknowledged the workload and discussed whether compensation and statutory pay rules should be revisited; no bills were taken up in the meeting. The commission said it will provide additional information as the legislative process advances.
