Changing some misdemeanors to infractions won’t do much, officials say

To ease the workload for Idaho’s public defenders, a state committee introduced four bills that would change some misdemeanor charges into lesser infractions. The misdemeanors up for change, though, wouldn’t help too much, according to local officials.

Since misdemeanor charges can potentially lead to jail time, a judge has to appoint a public defender for the jury trial for each charge. By turning them into infractions, only a fee has to be paid.

The laws proposed for change are smaller misdemeanor charges, like littering and fish and hunting violations. The fees for these crimes were also increased. Besides easing the burden of public defenders, the bills are also trying to make the penalties for these kinds of crimes appropriate.

Oneida and Power County public defender Bob Eldredge has around 60 to 70 cases a month. He says these changes could help, but the kinds of cases addressed would hardly make a dent in his workload.

“We rarely have those cases anyway, so yes it’ll lessen the load,” he said. “But a very small amount. I’ve probably had one littering case in the last three months.”

Bannock County prosecutor Stephen Herzog agrees that the laws proposed are affecting fairly minor crimes, but he knows any little bit could help.

“What it sounds like they’re addressing are pretty minor offenses,” Herzog said. “But back in the day you could have a jury trial on a speeding ticket, which, I mean, would be incredibly cumbersome. For our office and the public defender’s and everyone else.”

The committee that proposed the bills, the judiciary, rules, and administration committee, is proposing another misdemeanor change Wednesday. This one is related to minor possession of tobacco.