Idaho
Idaho Legislature selects watchdog analyst to head Office of Performance Evaluations • Idaho Capital Sun
A Boise native who worked for more than a decade as an Idaho state government watchdog analyst is now leading the agency.
Ryan Langrill, the new director of the Idaho Office of Performance Evaluations, told the Idaho Capital Sun that there’s nothing quite like the work he gets to do.
“What other job do you get to do a new deep dive every year, if not more often?” Langrill told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview. He said “it seems like we’re sort of in between this, like, investigative journalist and management consultant role.”
Langrill served as the agency’s interim director since July, after the agency’s previous director of 21-years, Rakesh Mohan, retired.
On Nov. 7, the Idaho Legislative Council officially named Langrill as director of the Office of Performance Evaluations.
At the meeting, Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said the committee received applications from across the U.S. in its national search.
“But the committee, when it came right down to it, felt like we have the best qualified person to do that already in house,” Winder said.
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How he got started in government watchdog work
Langrill started his career on a route toward academia, earning a PhD and master’s degree in economics from George Mason University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in history in economics from Gonzaga University, based in Spokane.
But soon, he realized that he didn’t have as much passion for teaching.
He started searching for jobs back home in Boise, where his wife returned to while he worked in Atlanta.
When he found a job posting at the Idaho Office of Performance Evaluations, he saw it as an opportunity to do what he loves: applied research.
“This seems like that, and it seems very practical. Like, ‘Oh — it is research that is directly being used to improve the governance of the state of Idaho,’” Langrill recalled.
And he’s stayed ever since. He worked as an evaluator for the agency for over a decade, leading 14 projects.
Report on mental illness facility found issues. Then conditions transformed.
Langrill told the Sun that the most memorable report that he’s worked on at the agency was a 2019 report on a mental illness facility in Nampa called the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center, which found a “culture of constant crisis.”
But in 2023, when Langrill briefed lawmakers on the agency’s follow-up report, he reported that conditions had improved.
“It’s been a big transformation. And the report was not the whole reason for that, but I think it was part of that,” Langrill told the Sun. He said “that’s been the most concrete observed outcome I’ve seen from our work.”
As part of the initial report on the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center, he told the Sun he embedded himself at the center for much of one year, was trained on its direct care process and restraint program, and became certified with its nonviolent crisis intervention team.
Being there helped him understand the culture, and to “diagnose” what wasn’t working, he said.
His plans as Idaho watchdog agency director
Langrill said his principles are fundamentally the same as the agency’s previous director: Rigor, credibility and independence.
“We need to do a really good job of understanding — if we’re evaluating a program, not just understanding what the role of the state employees are in it, but what is the experience of the people receiving services and the people on the other side of things?” Langrill said.
And he knows that the Office of Performance Evaluations fills a critical role in state government, as one of the tools for the Idaho Legislature see how “government is actually working,” including how the executive branch, laws passed, and money doled out actually function.
“It’s hard for 105 part-time legislators to do that on their own,” Langrill said. But, he said, “if they need a deep dive to understand what’s happening, we are — I think — a great tool for that.”
“That’s how I see the role of the office. And so we provide understanding, and then we provide accountability, if we find that the implementation of programs is not in line with good practices or legislative intent,” he said.
During the legislative session, Langrill said he hopes to spend more time in the Idaho State Capitol.
Part of that time could be spent synthesizing more of the office’s in-depth work on complex issues, like he did with the Idaho Medicaid Managed Care Task Force in 2023. The Office of Performance Evaluations already presents its reports to the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, which requests reports from the agency. And the agency presents to relevant committees.
“But are there opportunities for us to take what we’ve learned from a whole stable of reports and say, ‘Hey, we have, we have some findings that may inform this conversation,’” Langrill said.
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Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 1.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 1 drawing
Day: 7-2-3
Night: 2-7-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 1 drawing
Day: 4-7-9-3
Night: 8-7-7-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from March 1 drawing
03-06-07-33-41
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 1 drawing
10-11-12-35-56, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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