Policy Overview
1991
Year the Dale Haile Detention Center was built — now 35 years old, past its 30-year design life.¹
Maximum capacity of Canyon County Jail facilities, consistently operating above target population threshold.²
4
Failed bond elections since 2006 ($72.5M, $46M, $46M, $187M) — no new jail built in 35 years, last bond on ballot in 2019.⁵
$10.5M
Cost of failed POD 6 trailer jail, sunk cost of lease payments, with no asset retained, and valuable time/capital lost to inflation.⁴
700+
Average number of Inmates on pre-trial release daily due to lack of jail space, including those with felony offenses.³
The Canyon County Jail crisis is one of the most significant challenges facing our community today.
In 2019, Captain Daren Ward of the Canyon County Sheriff's Office stated publicly, "We've had up to and including homicide occur while a person was out on pre-trial release."⁶ In 2025, Canyon County Prosecutor Chris Boyd stated publicly that "The choices now are down to 'do we let out this sex offender, a child molester potentially, out? Do we let out a drug trafficker, somebody with 22 pounds of methamphetamines? Or do we let someone out with multiple felony DUIs, somebody who will kill our loved ones on our street?'" ⁷
This issue will not be resolved with timid leadership or by officials who fear for their own re-election. Short-term, short-sighted fixes only further delay and increase the cost of the inevitable. We cannot claim to be tough on crime if we refuse to adequately fund law enforcement. We need to have honest conversations about the state of county infrastructure; the quality of a community depends heavily on its public safety.
Knowing the severity of this issue, it is incumbent on voters to elect commissioners who will work to secure adequate funding to build and operate a new county jail. Understandably, this is not a popular issue for most candidates and current elected officials, but our county cannot afford the human cost of tragedies that will follow if this issue goes unresolved.
Moreover, the county risks potential legal action. Canyon County has already been sued twice in federal court over conditions at the Dale Haile Detention Center — the same jail it is still using today.⁸ The 2009 ACLU class-action resulted in a federal consent decree, six years of court monitoring, and $190,000 in attorney's fees, with nothing permanently fixed.⁹ That jail is now 35 years old and more overcrowded than when those lawsuits were filed.
The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act gives the Department of Justice authority to investigate, sue, and impose a consent decree on Canyon County at any time conditions are found to violate the Constitution — and when that happens, a federal judge, not Canyon County voters or commissioners, decides what gets built, when, and at what cost. Do we really want the Department of Justice and a federal judge mandating this for our community because elected leaders failed to act?
Canyon County can either solve this problem now, on its own terms, with a plan it controls, at a cost it can manage — or it can wait until a federal court decides the terms, the timeline, and the price tag. The state legislature has handicapped our ability to raise revenue at the county level through House Bill 389, passed in 2021.¹⁰ That is a real constraint.
We must continue to work with our state partners, but we cannot wait on the state legislature to fix a problem it helped create. We must use the tools we have at our disposal. If we use them wisely; we can address this crisis without overburdening taxpayers. This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of moral and fiscal responsibility, and the basic obligation of local government to keep its citizens safe.
$162.2M
Fiscal Year 2026 Canyon County budget — up over 56% from $103 million in FY2020, while population grew 19%.¹¹
$44.6M
Total ARPA funds received; funds nearly exhasted, $8M remaining must be spent by Dec. 2026 or returned to Treasury.¹²
3%
19%
County population growth since 2020 (231,105). Today, the county is home to an estimated 275,125 residents.¹⁴
$590
Average expenditure per resident in 2026 (Total budget divided by total population). Was $453 per resident in 2020, a 30% increase in five years.¹⁵
Canyon County currently faces critical budget issues, and action must be taken to ensure we address projected shortfalls and ensure fiscal discipline. In April 2025, Canyon County Clerk Rick Hogaboam wrote a letter to the county elected officials and department administrators, laying out the stakes heading into the fiscal year 2026 budget cycle. In it, he discussed the problems Canyon County faces in drawing down its savings to meet basic operating expenses, stating that,
"State shared revenues and other variable revenues have not grown at the rate they grew in previous years. Our ongoing commitments exceed our projected revenues, which means that we're operating with a deficit that is being made up by savings. Our once strong fund balance has been and is being drawn down to meet our budgetary obligations. As you're all aware, this is not sustainable... I project that our operational budget for this year will require the use of millions from savings just to meet our obligations."¹⁶
In the letter, he also discusses how new positions and salary increases were effectively frozen, departments were instructed not to request new positions or pay raises unless they come with offsetting revenue — a clear signal that the county has exhausted its capacity for routine growth in personnel costs. These issues, and many others noted in the letter, highlight a structural gap between revenues and obligations that is real and growing — and make clear that without serious fiscal discipline, the county faces a genuine financial crisis. As we reflect on the last few years, we must ask ourselves, are the taxpayers getting what they paid for? The answer, as it relates to funding of public safety, decisions to defer maintenance on critical infrastructure, and other essential services, is demonstrably no.
Over the last few years, the county has spent down nearly all of the $44.6 million federal ARPA funds. Going forward, most major capital projects have no clear dedicated funding source. If the county does not act, it risks being forced into genuine austerity — cutting essential services not by choice, but by necessity, after years of spending that outpaced sustainable revenue. Long-term spending increases today, without guaranteed revenues to sustain those expenditures in the years to follow, put the county's fiscal health in peril.
Over the next four years, our county government must become more efficient, effective, and economically sustainable, prioritizing essential services, and finding smarter ways to deliver them as our county grows. With my background in public policy and administration, and years of experience in supporting complex, high-stakes, multi-million-dollar operations at the executive level, I am uniquely qualified to help address these issues. I’m invested in building a county government that serves its citizens — today and for generations to come.
2.9%
Canyon County's 2025 population growth rate, the highest of any Idaho county that year.¹⁷
5
Number of years state water regulators have paused new groundwater rights in southern Canyon County as they study aquifer health.¹⁸
60%
The increase in median home prices in Canyon County since April 2020 ($273,000) to April 2026 ($442,000).¹⁹
106,593
Canyon County Parcel Count as of 2025, up from 91,731 parcels in 2020, a 16.2% increase.²⁰
2022
Year Canyon County lost ICRMP coverage, recent RFP issues with West Valley Humane Society speak to issues with proper contract management.²¹
Canyon County's character — its farmland, its open spaces, its rural identity — is worth protecting. While growth will continue, how we grow is a choice.
Responsible growth means listening to citizens and community stakeholders, not just developers. It means development that is well-located, well-planned, and built in reasonable proximity to existing infrastructure and services. It means strengthening pro-resident regulations that account for traffic, emergency services, schools, aquifers, and greenspace. And it means ensuring that Canyon County's development approval process accounts for the cost of new growth. We must be proactive — not reactive — in managing growth, securing development agreements that hold developers accountable to their commitments, and protecting taxpayers from the legal and financial consequences of decisions that are deferred or poorly executed.
Responsible growth requires an updated Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Maps that honestly reflect where growth should — and should not — go. We must ensure that prime agricultural land is preserved through a transparent public process that accounts for Canyon County's farming economy, open space, water recharge capacity, and the rural character our residents deeply value. Agriculture is the backbone of Canyon County's heritage and economy. I am committed to working with citizens and stakeholders to ensure it remains that way for generations to come.
Canyon County deserves a commissioner with a vision that extends beyond the next election cycle. As Proverbs 29:18 reminds us: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I am committed to generational planning — because the decisions we make today will shape this county for decades to come.
Q&A with Jeff Skinner
I believe that great leadership starts with listening. Share your campaign priorities and questions, and help us build a platform that truly serves the needs of our County.