Council approves partnership to fund North Idaho Special Assistant U.S. Attorney position

The Coeur d'Alene City Council voted to approve Resolution 25029, authorizing the city to join a regional partnership to help fund a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) for North Idaho focused on drug trafficking and related violent crime. Councilmember Jamie moved approval; the motion passed on a roll-call vote.

Presenters told the council the North Idaho SAUSA would be a federal prosecutor assigned to handle a caseload from participating local jurisdictions and that the program aims to increase federal prosecutions of major drug trafficking and related crimes. A presenter said similar SAUSA initiatives in other parts of Idaho have resulted in prosecutions and lengthy federal sentences; the presenter cited Eastern Idaho's program (started in 2016) as having prosecuted about 200 traffickers as of the end of 2023.

The initiative's annual operating cost was described as $140,000. According to the presentation, the governor's office committed $75,000 per year and an Oregon-Idaho HIDTA program committed $50,000; the remaining $15,000 was to be shared among participating local governments. The presenters said Coeur d'Alene's share would not exceed $3,000 per year and that the city could withdraw after one year or in subsequent years if the program did not meet expectations. Staff noted the SAUSA position would begin July 1 but local contributions would be covered by the governor's office until the city's budget year begins Oct. 1, and the city had included the $3,000 in its proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

Shoshone County Prosecutor Ben Allen, identified in the meeting as a driving force for the initiative, said the position will provide quarterly reports and local partners will be invited to periodic briefings to review caseload statistics. Ben Allen said the position will be housed in Shoshone County and that quarterly reporting and an annual review comparing outcomes to other SAUSA programs are planned.

Councilmembers asked how success would be measured; presenters suggested metrics such as numbers of federal prosecutions, trends in drug seizures and other crime statistics. A presenter said local police and sheriffs will remain responsible for arrests and investigations; the federal SAUSA would prosecute qualifying cases in the federal system, shifting incarceration and post-sentencing costs to the federal government when cases meet federal thresholds.

Councilmember Jamie moved to approve Resolution 25029 "approving a memorandum of understanding for a partnership to fund a Special Assistant United States Attorney for North Idaho to help combat drug trafficking." The roll-call vote recorded Wood, Evans, Miller, Gabriel and Bookin as voting yes. The motion carried.