Rating: –1

Bill Summary:
Senate Bill 1202 (2025) provides additional funding to the Office of the State Public Defender for both Fiscal Year 2025 and Fiscal Year 2026. For FY2026, it authorizes a total appropriation of $33.58 million—$31 million from the state’s General Fund and $2.5 million from the Public Defense Fund. It also authorizes the addition of 17.96 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. A $1.2 million reduction is applied to FY2026 personnel costs from the Public Defense Fund.

For FY2025, the bill appropriates $6.69 million in additional funds, including $4.19 million from the General Fund and $2.5 million from the Public Defense Fund. These funds support operational costs and personnel expansion for the state-run public defense system, which has recently transitioned from a county-managed model to a centralized state agency.

The bill includes an emergency clause, making the FY2025 appropriations effective immediately upon passage.

Reason for Rating:
While public defense is a constitutional responsibility, this bill substantially increases state government size and scope without implementing any accountability measures, performance audits, or cost-efficiency safeguards. By growing the state’s centralized public defense bureaucracy and adding nearly 18 new government positions, it contradicts the Idaho Republican Party Platform’s repeated calls for limited government, local control, and fiscal restraint (Article I, Sections 1D and 5D). Furthermore, it fails to explore or incorporate private-sector alternatives for administrative or support functions. This unchecked expansion of a state agency, without sufficient justification or constraints, warrants a negative rating.