Legislation to put the state Attorney General in charge of investigating civil or criminal law violations by county elected officials, including open meeting law violations by boards of county commissioners, has passed the Senate on a unanimous, 34-0 vote and now moves to the House. “By far the majority of our prosecutors are ethical and they refer these things, they conflict them out,” said Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell. “But on occasion, they don’t. … We had a recent experience in that in my county, with a prosecutor that pulled some shenanigans who’s no longer there. But it has been at a substantial cost to the county.”

Six Canyon County lawmakers are co-sponsoring the bill, SB 1080, in the wake of that county’s experience with disgraced former county Prosecutor John Bujak. SB 1080 calls for adding an additional deputy attorney general and one investigator in the Idaho Attorney General’s office, at a cost of $212,600 a year, to create a new unit to investigate such crimes.

Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said the bill removes an attorney-client conflict that arises when county prosecutors have to prosecute the very county officials they represent day in and day out.