Brannon explains Locke hire

The recent appointment of a deputy chief clerk by Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon highlights an authority given to elected county officials throughout the state.

Brannon, who last month appointed Jennifer Locke to be his deputy chief clerk, and other elected county officials are allowed under the state’s constitution to appoint as many deputies as they see fit. Appointed deputies are officially sworn-in and classified as county employees. However, there is no requirement to inform the community at large that the elected official is searching for a deputy.

“It’s not a publicly transparent process at all,” said Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties. “It’s a determination by elected officials of who can be their alter-ego in office”/ Keith Cousins , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.