Qualifications For Sheriffs Proposed Police Experience, Citizenship Would Be Required Under Bill

Sheriffs around the state support setting qualifications for their elected jobs - but they expect resistance from outside law enforcement ranks.

Politicians may fear setting a precedent that could lead to minimum qualifications for other elected offices, said Vaughn Killeen, Ada County Sheriff and Idaho Sheriffs Association legislative chairman.

“I believe it’s going to be a tough sell to the Legislature,” Killeen said.

Currently, Idaho’s sheriffs don’t have to be qualified for their elected jobs, but a proposed law would change that within two years.

The bill being pushed by the Idaho Association of Counties proposes that anyone running for sheriff have at least four years’ experience as a full-time peace officer and be certified through the state Peace Officer Standards and Training program. Other qualifications include being a U.S. citizen, a registered voter and at least 21 years old.

Background checks are conducted as part of police certification requirements by the state.

“All they’re looking for is to maintain a certain level of professionalism,” said Kootenai County sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger, who tracks legislative issues for the department.

Under the bill, anyone elected or appointed sheriff after Jan. 1, 2000, could not take office without meeting those criteria. State law requires no minimum qualifications or background check.

“A sheriff is required before taking office to be alive. That’s it,” Killeen said.

Several sheriffs said House Bill 417 would set standards for the office similar to those for prosecutors, who also are elected and share the duty of a county’s primary law enforcement officer. Police chiefs also are hired based on their experience and qualifications, the sheriffs noted.

All North Idaho sheriffs would have qualified for office had the proposed standards been in place when they were elected.

Latah County Sheriff Jeff Crouch said such requirements would lend credibility to the sheriffs association and within departments. Crouch’s predecessor was a financial consultant and Army officer before being elected sheriff in 1992 and would not have been qualified under the proposed bill.

“If you don’t have that same training and knowledge I would think it would be hard to be credible with your people,” Crouch said.

The 44-member state sheriffs association brought the qualification issue to the Idaho Association of Counties in September, said Lorna Jorgensen, an IAC policy analyst who helped write the bill. They asked for qualifications that would ensure candidates for county sheriff would have basic law enforcement understanding and experience.

Rising crime around the state and the sheriff’s role as a county’s primary law enforcement officer make minimum qualifications necessary “to increase the effectiveness and capabilities of the sheriffs of this state as law enforcement officers,” the bill says.

“To have absolutely no background in this day and age we felt was inappropriate,” Killeen said.

The bill is not intended to unnecessarily limit sheriffs or other elected officials.

“The important thing is that the sheriffs are not interested in limiting the people who can serve as sheriff,” Jorgensen said. “That’s why the qualifications are very, very basic and not as strict as in other states. On the other hand, they do think that a person who is handling firearms and dealing with the public should be qualified to do so.”

, DataTimes