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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

It took a law, but state emergency agency’s name will officially change Friday

Officials at Idaho’s state Bureau of Homeland Security were downright tired of folks confusing them with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. So effective this Friday, the state agency’s official name will change to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.

It actually took a new law to change the name. HB 355 passed both houses unanimously and was signed into law by Gov. Butch Otter on March 22. Like most new state laws, it takes effect July 1.

The agency was first created as the Bureau of Disaster Services in 1975; in 2004, it was combined with the Bureau of Hazardous Materials into the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, which also was assigned responsibility to respond to terrorist threats, along with natural disasters, fires, explosions, riots and the like.

The bill’s fiscal note anticipated “minimal fiscal impact,” with just changes to letterhead, email addresses and other identifiers. Today, the bureau, which falls under Idaho’s Military Division, announced that its website will change Friday from bhs.idaho.gov to IOEM.idaho.gov.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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