Despite contract dispute, law enforcement continues in Hayden

Law enforcement will remain in place in Hayden after Sept. 30, despite the City Council’s decision to reject the contract the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office proposed. 

Hayden City Councilmember Ed DePriest said KCSO will continue to handle penal crime calls, as required by law, while the city works on a solution for ordinance crimes.

“The people of Hayden are going to be covered if someone's breaking into your house and you call 911,” DePriest assured residents. “You're going to get the same type of response as you get now. If someone’s in dire need, it shouldn’t be any different.”

DePriest said the city is continuing to look into long-term solutions to address ordinance crimes. He says Hayden residents have nothing to worry about amid “minuscule” penal crime rates.

Idaho Code § 31-2227 states KCSO is statutorily responsible for responding to criminal calls. Each county’s sheriff and prosecuting attorney has a primary obligation to enforce state criminal law within their respective counties.

DePriest said that in recent years, negotiations between Hayden and the county over law enforcement coverage have been contentious. Last year, the two sides had month-to-month arrangements before reaching an agreement to finish the fiscal year. 

“The city has been trying to get this contract from the county since April," DePriest said. 

DePriest said Kootenai County Commissioner Bruce Mattare essentially took over negotiating contracts between the KCSO and Hayden. 

Mattare said he wasn't primarily responsible; that attorneys handled the contract. 

DePriest said Hayden residents contribute to a “justice fund" which finances everything from patrolling deputies to jails and prosecutors. The rejected agreement asked the city to contribute over $1 million for the contract in addition to the justice fund. 

DePriest argued that the justice fund should be accounted for separately from an "enhanced" contract that includes penal as well as ordinance crimes rather than a “regular” contract that covers only penal crimes. 

Mattare posted in his blog that justice fund payments do not cover the "extraordinary volume of sheriff resources consumed inside the city."

“My understanding is that the citizens of Hayden pay roughly $700,000 to $800,000 to the patrol line alone and that should get us somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four deputies,” DePriest said. “Now they want us to pay an enhanced contract of $1,080,000, and we should have a total of seven to eight deputies.”

DePriest said the rejected agreement would have assigned four patrol deputies, one detective and one animal control officer to Hayden, down from five deputies currently.

KCSO could not be reached for comment.