Constitutional Amendment Concerning State Board Of Correction
Shall Section 5, Article X, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho be amended to provide that the state board of correction shall have the control, direction and management of adult felony probation and parole?
Currently, Section 5, Article X, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho provides that the Board of Correction shall have the control, direction and management of adult probation and parole. The proposed amendment would insert the word "felony" before the word "probation" and would clarify that the Board of Correction's authority is limited to the supervision and management of felony offenders. Consequently, if the proposed constitutional amendment is adopted, the Board of Correction would not have the authority to supervise or manage misdemeanor probationers. Misdemeanor probationers would continue to be supervised by Idaho counties, as is permitted by law.
Statements FOR the Proposed Amendment
Currently, adult felony probationers are supervised by the Board of Correction through the Idaho Department of Correction. This amendment would preserve local control of the misdemeanor probation process by clarifying that the state's role is limited to felony offenders, while counties have supervision authority over misdemeanor probationers.
Because the Idaho Constitution is not clear regarding state and local supervision of adult felony and misdemeanor probationers, legal challenges could result in unwanted changes to the current system. This amendment would allow voters to provide constitutional clarification.
Statements AGAINST the Proposed Amendment
Changes to the Constitution should be made only for major issues of interest to the state or in the event of a constitutional crisis.
This Section preserves the statewide uniform felony probation system, but does not address possible different misdemeanor probation treatment among judicial districts.