Local prosecutor pushing university to expand law school to eastern Idaho
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IDAHO FALLS — A local prosecutor is calling on the University of Idaho to expand its law school to the Idaho Falls campus.
Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal submitted a letter to the University of Idaho President Scott Green and the University of Idaho Dean of the College of Law Aviva Abramovsky on Saturday, addressing the lack of opportunities for eastern Idahoans to pursue law and asking school leaders to consider adding a law school to eastern Idaho.
“Over the past few years, the legal profession has seen a critical shortfall in lawyers to meet the needs of the state of Idaho,” writes Neal in the letter. “The public sector has been especially hit hard. We have had to significantly increase salaries and still struggle to recover from having less than half of our authorized attorney positions filled.”
In a news release, Neal notes an interest in law degrees in eastern Idaho, but many cannot move out of the area.
“There are people in this area who want to attend law school, but they cannot leave the area for years to accomplish the goal,” writes Neal. “The University of Idaho has shown that distance learning can expand opportunities to attend law school in a place other than just the Moscow campus.”
The University of Idaho has two campuses for the law school in Moscow and Boise. Neal says he hopes the university will consider using the Idaho Falls extension campus as a place for a future law school.
“Here in Idaho Falls, the University of Idaho has underutilized facilities. I believe there would also be a substantial cadre of adjunct resources available from the local legal community,” writes Neal. “With the COVID accommodations a few years ago and the success of the Boise campus, the U of I College of Law has become much more adept at distance learning.”
Neal also told the university leaders that members of his staff are hoping to start working toward a law degree but says it would hurt the prosecutor’s office to lose them.
“In my own office, I have five administrative staff members who are eager to attend law school,” say Neal. “We want to support their progression, but they would have to leave the area for years in order to attain such a goal. This would further affect us negatively.”
Neal said there are many ways to help this idea become a reality.
“With every ounce of urgency, I implore the University to explore eastern Idaho options for a part-time law school opportunity in our area,” writes Neal. “This need not be the same type of grand undertaking seen in Boise and could take in a class every three years as opposed to every year, for example.”
Read the entire letter here.