Elmore Co. Commissioners Special Meeting - Sept 24th

On Friday, Sept 24th, the Elmore County Commissioners held a Special Zoom meeting with the Idaho Public Defense Commission. The meeting was held in regard to a budget issue. Commissioner Al Hofer noticed that six years ago the public defender bill was about $500,000. Currently the bill is close to 1.4 million. The Public Defender budget has nearly exceeded the yearly budget.

Hofer stated, “We are being pushed into a corner,” when the Commissioners receive the billing statement it is on average 600-700 pages long. The Commissioners have looked into trying to find an attorney to review the bill, but with a statement that large it is difficult.

Jennifer Roark from the Idaho Public Defense Commission mentioned to the Commissioners that Elmore County could take a look at Payettes’ Public Defence compensation and compare their records to Elmore County’s records.