HAYDEN — Debate about how much the city of Hayden should pay the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services and how that figure should be calculated is poised to continue after a special meeting between city and county officials Thursday.

The meeting was often tense, erupting at one point into a shouting match between Hayden City Councilor Ed DePriest and Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris that prompted a recess. The two elected officials later shook hands. 

Mayor Alan Davis said city staff have tentatively considered a budget of about $1.1 million for law enforcement services in fiscal year 2026. 

The contract with the sheriff’s office would, ideally, include eight patrol deputies, a detective, a lieutenant and animal control services. City and county staff agreed Thursday to calculate whether $1.1 million would cover all the desired personnel. 

Davis said the city and county will need to create a formula for law enforcement funding in the future. 

“It’s the nut that’s going to grow the oak that’s going to give us a healthy relationship going forward,” he said. “That’s the nut I’m cracking.” 

In 2022, Hayden voters passed a $600,000 levy to fund more law enforcement personnel positions in the city. Soon after the levy passed, DePriest said, the county indicated that funds provided by the city weren’t enough. 

DePriest said he’d like to see a “realistic projection” of how many law enforcement personnel Hayden will need over the next three to five years and how much those personnel would cost. 

Norris suggested that more information is needed. 

“My recommendation has been to take it out of all our hands and do another study,” he said. “The best customers in contract law enforcement are the cities that once had their own police department. The worst customers are the ones that have never had their own police department. They don’t realize the savings they’re receiving.”