Idaho lawmakers scale back boost in probation, parole officers

BOISE – A plan to add two dozen probation and parole officers to Idaho’s prison system next year was cut in half to just a dozen on Thursday, as growing inmate numbers pinched the corrections budget.

As part of Idaho’s justice reinvestment initiative, which seeks to reserve cell space for the most dangerous offenders, Idaho has been gearing up for changes in its probation and parole system. But an anticipated $4 million from dropping inmate counts didn’t materialize.

“I think it challenges our department to be more creative and efficient with assigning caseloads to our parole and probation officers,” said Idaho Department of Correction Director Henry Atencio. “Our goal is to drive down our caseloads for our moderate and high-risk offenders.” Twelve new officers will help, he said.

Gov. Butch Otter had proposed just a 1.4 percent increase in state general funds for corrections next year, with the 24 new positions included. But that was before the change in inmate numbers. Otter had recommended $2.3 million for the new probation officers; the budget that lawmakers set Thursday included a total of $1.2 million for the increase, $846,200 of that from state general funds. Overall, it reflected a 2.3 percent increase in state funding.

“We certainly appreciate the legislators’ support for our agency and for public safety,” Atencio said. “We understand the greater needs of the state as well. We’ll do the best we can with this allocation.”

The budget calls on the department to report semi-annually to both Legislature and the governor’s Division of Financial Management on the monthly number of probationers and parolees under supervision, along with their assessed and supervised risk levels.