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Idaho State Police asks for new investigators, forensic staff and funds shift as vacancies and caseload pressures grow
Summary
Director Colonel Bill Gardner and legislative analysts presented the Idaho State Police FY2026 budget request, seeking staff additions for fentanyl and forensic work, a $4.995 million fund shift tied to the highway distribution account, remote housing, and IT reorganizations amid regional vacancies and retention challenges.
Idaho State Police Director Colonel Bill Gardner and Legislative Services budget staff presented the division’s fiscal‑year 2026 request to the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12, seeking personnel and operating changes to address rising drug caseloads, forensic workload and regional staffing shortages.
The department requested a range of enhancements: a 10‑position unit focused on fentanyl trafficking ($1,043,300); a four‑person investigations unit devoted to crimes at Idaho Department of Correction facilities ($757,300, including $314,000 one‑time for vehicles and computers); a Forensic Deputy Lab Manager (1 FTP, $118,200); and a requested transfer of $4,995,500 and 37.48 FTP tied to a planned reduction in law‑enforcement funding received from the Highway Distribution Account (HDA). Budget staff said the HDA distribution was reduced gradually after Senate Bill 1201 (2019) and that the requested shift is intended to allow patrol to maintain current operations if the HDA flow ends in FY2026.
Noah Peterson, budget policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, walked the committee through the division’s funds and recent spending: about 64% of FY2024 expenditures were personnel costs (approximately $61.3 million), 21% were operating costs and the remainder was capital outlay and trustee/benefit payments. Peterson said the division’s base has averaged about 6% year‑over‑year growth during the last five years, driven by a mix of one‑time appropriations and enhancements.
Gardner told the committee the Forensic Services and a new SACI (sexual‑assault‑kit initiative) team have produced results but need stable staffing and funding. “We’ve seized over 65,000 fentanyl pills, over a full pound of fentanyl powder, 150 pounds of methamphetamine from this specific team and then I believe it was 2 or 3 days ago on, an operation all by itself we seized 50 pounds of methamphetamine,” Gardner said, describing recent enforcement results.
Committee members pressed the agency on regional staffing shortages and retention. Peterson said the division has 583.67 FTP and had 38.67 positions vacant as of August, with an average fill rate of about 92.5% over five years. Gardner told senators the agency is losing troopers to cities and other states because local pay can exceed state pay; he called the vacancy challenge “difficult” and said some areas—Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene were cited—are “severely” understaffed.
Other budget items included an administrative reorganization to move IT positions to the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS) (agency requested 20 FTP; the governor recommended transferring 16), a $268,100 supplemental for a remote housing unit (originally planned for Mackay, relocated to Fairfield), a requested ILETS disaster‑recovery site ($233,000 ongoing), a $50,000 federal grant request to comply with SORNA (the Adam Walsh Act), and $5.09 million in replacement items (vehicles, body armor, servers and peripherals). The governor additionally recommended a one‑time $500,000 Millennium Fund allocation for a “fentanyl takes all” public communications campaign; Division of Financial Management staff clarified the governor’s recommendation was a one‑time request to the Millennium Fund, not an ongoing Millennium appropriation.
Lawmakers and the director discussed investigative tools for financial crime. Gardner asked for narrowly limited administrative subpoena power for financial records tied to drug and human‑trafficking investigations, saying it would help investigators move faster before suspects hide assets.
The presentation generated follow‑up requests: senators asked the agency to provide more detail on the planned OITS transfers and on forensic‑lab timing; staff agreed to provide additional documentation on federal grants and fund balances. There were no formal committee votes on the ISP presentation; members said they want further analysis of pay, turnover and deployment before final appropriation decisions.
