Eastern Idaho brings in federal prosecutor to cut court costs
Eastern Idaho is getting some much-needed help in reducing crime rates.
James Dalton was named the new Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for Eastern Idaho on Monday afternoon.
This is part of the Eastern Idaho Partners project. The biggest goal is to reduce the number of repeat offenders who serve minimum time at a local level and then are back on the streets.
Those offenders cost the most because they’re recurring expenses.
Dalton said he plans to target the most serious offenders who pose the greatest public risk such as drug traffickers and prostitution. He also wants to target offenders who cross jurisdictions.
This is the second region in Idaho to bring in an assistant attorney. The first was Treasure Valley, where the effort has been very successful.
Dalton hopes to see similar results here.
“As it has been seen in Treasure Valley, very significant gang-related crimes, a significant return on investment as prisoners are sent out of state,” said Dalton. “They’re not housed in Idaho facilities. And I think we’ll see the same thing here in Eastern Idaho.”
The program will save Eastern Idaho some money because offenders will be tried in federal court and sent to federal prison, with the costs of trial and housing paid for by the federal government.
Currently, the cost for counties per inmate is about $21,000 per year.
Another issue bringing in a prosecutor could have an effect on is overcrowding in jails. While reducing the overcrowding in the Bannock County Jail is not one of the partnership’s specific goals, Dalton is hopeful that it will be a positive side effect of the program.
Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said it may not be something they have specifically in mind, but he expects to see a significant difference. He said it couldn’t come at a better time, either.
“A situation that was real concerning is now getting into critical,” said Nielsen. “Our jail population is still going up.”
Last week, he said, they had 36 people who slept on the floor in booking because they had nowhere else to put them.
He hopes that making some of the local cases federal ones will help.
