Since lawmakers expanded the role of Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s office in prosecuting county-level public corruption cases last year, his office has received 58 complaints, Wasden told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning. Thirty of those were declined as they failed to meet the criteria; 16 are pending review, and 12 are being investigated. “That team is extremely busy,” Wasden said; it includes three prosecutors and four investigators. Last July, a new page on the Attorney General’s website was unveiled “to make it simple for citizens to file complaints against elected county officials suspected of wrongdoing.”

Among current cases the office is prosecuting is a public corruption case in Jefferson County in which a grand jury has been convened, Wasden said.

He called both that unit and his office’s Crimes Against Children unit, for which lawmakers appropriated additional funds last year, “prime examples of the way good government should work.”

“You as policy setters provide direction and resource support, while my office executes those directives,” he said. “Both show how we can work together to protect children and to protect … the public … in the integrity of their local elected officials.”

Still, he said, with more attorneys in his office, he said, the state could save money it’s now spending on pricey outside attorneys, as highlighted in a legislative performance evaluation report issued yesterday. “This legislative session will provide a perfect opportunity to debate the merits of high-rate outside counsel,” Wasden told JFAC. “My position on this issue has been consistent. While I do believe there are cases” where hiring outside counsel is appropriate, he said it’s being overused. “I’m confident you understand the economic value of asking my office to do more and to make state government more efficient and more effective. But to do so requires additional … resources in my office,” he said.

Asked if he has a proposal in response to the report, Wasden said it's not in his budget because the report was just released last night, but he's working with the agencies involved and plans to bring forward a proposal. Wasden's budget proposal requests a 5.8 percent increase in state funding for his office and eight new positions, including two attorneys, two investigators, two paralegals and support staff.