Kootenai County commissioners, sheriff clash over school resource officer contracts
County leaders and Sheriff Robert Norris are still splitting over who pays for school resource officers, with budgets, contract terms and school-year coverage on the line.
Kootenai County families could end up paying more or seeing changes in school policing if commissioners and Sheriff Robert Norris cannot settle the terms of school resource officer contracts before the 2025-26 budget is locked in. At issue is not just the price tag, but who controls the deputies in schools and what authority comes bundled with the contracts.
During an Aug. 12, 2025 status update, Coeur d’Alene School District Deputy Superintendent of Operations Seth Deniston told commissioners the SRO program matters, but said it was unfair to ask schools to pay 100% of the cost. Deniston pointed to the shorter 180-day school year and said school districts elsewhere usually cover only 50% to 75% of SRO costs. County finance staff had already said on July 30, 2025, that the sheriff’s office and Hayden Charter School would be negotiating an SRO contract and that about $133,000 in revenue had been built into the budget.
That same budget discussion showed how large the public safety bill can be. Finance staff said Hayden’s tentative law-enforcement budget included $1,295,000 for sheriff salary and $95,000 for a vehicle. The numbers underscore why commissioners have pressed for firm contract decisions before finalizing county finances.
The county’s existing agreements show how the program works on paper. A 2025-26 contract with Kootenai Joint School District #274 says Kootenai County will employ one SRO and the district will pay $94,210 from Sept. 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. The agreement says that amount equals 70% of the deputy’s loaded wages. A separate 2025-26 agreement with Coeur d’Alene School District #271 sets the term to the 2025-26 public school calendar year and allows either side to terminate with 30 days’ written notice.
The dispute has widened beyond dollars. On April 19, 2026, commissioners were split over Chair Bruce Mattare’s proposal to give sheriff’s deputies discretion to conduct up to nine random drug-dog searches per school year in schools that contract for SRO services. Mattare said the goal was to discourage drugs in schools, and Commissioner Marc Eberlein supported the idea. Lakeland Joint School District interim superintendent Jake Massey said Lakeland schools did not have a drug problem that would justify random searches at the sheriff’s discretion.
Kootenai County’s SRO contracts describe the program as a joint venture and community-policing effort meant to maintain safe learning environments. With contracts already affecting Coeur d’Alene, Lakeland and Kootenai Joint schools, the next decision will shape both the county budget and the level of police presence students see next school year.
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