Hayden still without dedicated patrols as contract talks with Kootenai County continue

HAYDEN, Idaho — The City of Hayden still has no dedicated law enforcement patrolling its streets, nearly a month after the city council voted to cancel its contract with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

Hayden’s roughly 17,000 residents still get a response when they report a crime, but no deputies are assigned to patrol the city full time.

City and county leaders are negotiating a new contract, and residents are urging both sides to reach an agreement.

The City Council says it wants a new contract because a consulting firm found that 60% of deputy service hours were unaccounted for.

The city’s latest proposal is a month-to-month contract that would cost $1 million over a full year. Under that plan, Hayden would receive five sheriff’s deputies, a detective and an animal control officer. County officials said the plan would cost the county another $250,000. Those costs include training and hiring deputies, and providing patrol cars and equipment.

County Commissioner Bruce Mattare said the county wants a deal but cannot accept the current terms.

“It would have asked the county to lose $250,000, and that’s just too much to ask. So what we did yesterday when we spoke, was we discussed a counterproposal where we would reduce the cost of overhead,” Mattare said.

Mattare originally opposed a month-to-month contract between Hayden and the sheriff’s office. He now supports that approach, as long as the arrangement reduces the cost for the county.

At last night’s City Council meeting, residents asked the council to resolve the contract dispute quickly. One Hayden man said his dog was killed in a pit bull attack. He said deputies told him they could not cite the pit bull’s owner because of the contract impasse. He said it took another week of contacting the city and animal control before the sheriff’s office took action.

“It took a week and a grieving family to write formal letters to move forward on this matter, which I feel is unacceptable. Public safety must never become a casualty of a dispute between government agencies,” said John Rezzonico, a Hayden resident.