After state lawmakers this year voted to expand the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole from five to seven members, Gov. Butch Otter today announced two new appointees: Former state Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, a longtime state trooper and the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee; and Dr. Karen Neill of Pocatello, a forensic nurse and professor of nursing at Idaho State University who also serves on the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance.

The increase in the commission’s membership comes as its caseload is expanding under the state’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which focuses on reserving prison cell space for the most dangerous offenders, and moving less-dangerous offenders into community supervision.

The expansion, and the new appointments, will take effect July 1.