Bonneville County Budget Debate: Prosecutor warns of “Tipping of the Scales,” Commissioners explain revenue limits
News Team
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A public dispute is brewing in Bonneville County over the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. While Prosecuting Attorney Randy Neal is sounding the alarm that a lack of funding for his office could “cripple the local justice system,” county commissioners are defending their position, arguing that Neal’s budget requests are not feasible and would come at the expense of other vital county services.
In a newly released public commentary, Neal criticized county commissioners for failing to increase the number of prosecutors over the past two decades, a trend he says has only worsened recently.
“It frankly does no good to add deputies and officers to make more arrests if you do not have the resources to convict these offenders,” Neal stated.
Neal’s primary concern stems from a recent change in state law. In 2024, the state created the State Public Defender (SPD), which now funds public defense, shifting that financial burden away from the county. The change, however, has had an unintended side effect: what Neal calls a “massive tipping of the scales” in Bonneville County’s legal system.
According to Neal, the SPD has since nearly doubled the number of public defenders in the county to 14, while also increasing their salaries by up to 50%. This has left the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office in a tough spot. “We’re in stiff competition with the SPD and the private sector to hire new attorneys,” Neal said.
Neal argues that the situation was made worse last year when the county commission approved only a 7% budget increase for the prosecutor’s office, a decision that resulted in the loss of two criminal prosecutor positions—a 20% cut. Neal says the office is now outnumbered two-to-one by the public defenders, not counting private attorneys.
In a startling example, Neal cites a recent case where nine defense attorneys appeared while the Statewas represented by a single prosecutor.
“Of these nine defense attorneys, eight were funded by taxpayers,” adds Neal. “That’s right, your taxes are going to defend criminals in substantially greater amounts than to prosecute them.”
Neal argues that this imbalance “emboldens” criminals. When prosecutors are overwhelmed with cases, they are forced to make more lenient plea deals. “Our success rate in trial suffers. And that emboldens the criminal element,” he warned.
Neal contends that since the county is no longer responsible for the $3 million annual expense for public defense, a portion of that money should be redirected to his office to hire additional prosecutors. He is urging the public to contact the county Commissioner’s Office ahead of next week’s budget vote.
“Nothing less than the future of the quality of life in our community is at stake,” concludes Neal.
“It’s not feasible”: County Commissioners Explain Budgeting Constraints
In response to Prosecutor Neal’s commentary, Local News 8 reached out to the Bonneville County Commissioners’ office for additional insight. Commissioner Karl Casperson explained that multiple county offices are facing budget cuts due to a lack of revenue. He clarified that the $3 million for public defense was not withheld from the prosecutor’s office, as it was never county revenue; it was state funding that was simply reallocated to the new SPD office. “There was not a $3 million fund available when the public defenders went to the state,” he stated.
During a recent “Stand Up for Idaho” town hall, Commissioner Michelle Mallard further explained the commissioners’ position. She noted that the county has an estimated $2,130,000 in new revenue from property taxes. The prosecutor’s office has requested roughly $1,452,000 of that, which Mallard says is not a feasible option.
“If we give the prosecutor’s office everything they ask for, that leaves just over $677,000 in new money for all other county offices, including the sheriff’s office,” Mallard explained. “It’s not feasible for us to give just one office all the new property tax money.”
She also warned that the current revenue restrictions would likely prevent the county from reaching its goal of a 5% cost-of-living increase for all county employees.
“In 2019, the budget for the prosecutor’s office was $2 million. Since 2019, the commissioners have steadily provided increases that amount to…$1 million,” Mallard added. “We will certainly have to increase the budget for the prosecutor’s office this year… But we can’t do it at the expense of every other need across the county.”
To watch Mallards’ full comments, click HERE.
Commissioner Casperson encourages the public to attend the budget meeting on August 28th at 2 PM to better understand the situation.
The full copy of Prosecutor Neal’s commentary has been included below: