NAMPA, Idaho — A new bill in Idaho aims to establish basic guidelines for how police departments can use license plate readers — a move that could affect drivers statewide but will have little impact on Nampa’s Integrated Command Center.

The proposed legislation, introduced by Republican Senator Doug Okuniewicz, not only codifies statewide standards for the use of license plate readers but also includes a significant change for Idaho drivers: the elimination of the requirement for a front license plate if a vehicle does not have a front bracket.

In response to the bill, Nampa’s Integrated Command Center Supervisor Chris Krajsa stated, “Yeah, so we essentially do all of that right now. There’s no changes that we would have to make to that because we already have the checks and balances and all the things that are in place in that bill.”

Nampa’s technology already routinely scans license plates, and the city has its own limitations on data storage — 14 days for traffic camera data and 60 days for license plate readers. These existing practices align closely with the proposed legislation, which does not mandate any data storage limitations.

Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford also weighed in, sharing his thoughts in public comments at the statehouse. “That’s great because it mirrors our own policies, and we actually have stricter policies than what would be codified here,” he said.

The bill was introduced on Tuesday and still needs to pass through the full House and Senate. If enacted, Idaho would join 19 other states without front license plate requirements.

Discussing the importance of front plates, Krajsa noted, “They can be very important because sometimes we have readers that read, they were reading the front license plates. We’ve gone to the back because of the fact that some people don’t have those on, but they are very important.”

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Idaho prosecutors asked a judge to reject, at least partially, student murder suspect Bryan Kohberger’s request to give his family priority seating at his upcoming trial — arguing in part that relatives may be called as witnesses.

Deputy Latah County Prosecutor Ashley Jennings wrote in a court filing asking Judge Steven Hippler to exclude any potential witnesses in Kohberger’s family from attending the trial prior to giving their own testimony.

“The State may call member(s) of the Kohberger family to testify at trial,” she wrote. “Prior to start of the trial, the State anticipates it will motion the Court, or the Court will on its own accord, generally exclude testifying witnesses from the courtroom so that they cannot hear other witnesses’ testimony.”

BRYAN KOHBERGER’S AMAZON RECORDS ARE ‘CATASTROPHIC’ FOR DEFENSE, ‘SMOKING GUN’ FOR PROSECUTORS, EXPERTS SAY

While victims’ relatives have guaranteed legal rights, there is nothing that gives the same to an accused killer’s family, Jennings argued.

“Defendant requests that members of his family be granted the same rights as the victim’s families,” Jennings continued. “However, the ‘immediate families of homicide victims’ have constitutional and statutory rights to attend pursuant to [the] Idaho Constitution…There is no comparable constitutional or statutory provisions affording a defendant’s family these same rights.”

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Amanda Kohberger, sister of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger, is spotted exiting Monroe County Court House in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

Kohberger’s defense lawyers asked for his family to be included in a list of people to receive priority seating earlier this month, after prosecutors submitted a list of the victims’ relatives to the court.

Defense attorney Elisa Massoth claimed that excluding them would violate his Sixth Amendment rights. But Jennings shot down that logic.

PROSECUTORS CLAP BACK AT BRYAN KOHBERGER’S ‘BUSHY EYEBROWS’ DENIAL BY SHARING ALLEGED SELFIE FROM DAY OF MURDERS

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)

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“The Defendant has a constitutional and statutory right to a ‘public trial,’ but that does not extend to Defendant’s choosing whom sits in the courtroom,” she wrote.

The 30-year-old former criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University is accused of driving to the neighboring University of Idaho and killing four students.

IDAHO COURT RELEASES SURVIVING ROOMMATES’ TEXT MESSAGES FROM NIGHT OF STUDENT MURDERS

Prosecutors allege Bryan Kohberger took this selfie photo at 10:31 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022 – about 6 hours after the murders of four University of Idaho students he is accused of committing. (Ada County Court)

The victims were identified as Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. At least two were incapacitated and unable to react at the start of the 4 a.m. home invasion stabbings, according to court documents.

Police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s body that allegedly had Kohberger’s DNA on it. Prosecutors have also alleged that surveillance video of a suspect vehicle and Kohberger’s phone records help place him at the scene.

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University of Idaho students from left to right: Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. All four were stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. (Jazzmin Kernodle via AP/Instagram/ @kayleegoncalves)

The defense did not object to the presence of the victim families in court, but Kohberger’s lawyers took a swipe at the Goncalves family by asking the judge to ban people from wearing clothing with the victims’ faces on it in court.

Another judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May 2023, to four counts of first-degree murder and one of burglary.

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Trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11 in Boise after a change of venue.

Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted.

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Idaho on Monday to promote a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would require a federal balanced budget.

The amendment would be sought through a never-before used method of amending the U.S. Constitution: A convention of the states. DeSantis met privately with lawmakers in the Idaho Legislature early Monday.

“I am convinced that you are not going to have Congress all of a sudden change its behavior for the long term. I think the reason we’ve gotten into this with respect to fiscal is because there are certain incentives for the people that are in Washington to behave the way they do. And we need to change those incentives,” DeSantis, a former Republican presidential candidate, told reporters in a news conference in the Idaho governor’s office, standing between Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke.

Critics say a constitutional convention could put the entire Constitution up for change. But supporters argue a convention is needed to rein in the rising federal deficit and an increasingly powerful federal government.

Asked about concerns the process would be uncontrollable, DeSantis told reporters he disagreed — pointing to state-level controls for a constitutional convention and ratification requirements.

“I think the people that say somehow the whole thing would melt down, they’re basically saying that the founding fathers were wrong to give the people in the states an ability to restrain the federal Congress,” the Florida governor said. “And I don’t think they were wrong to do that. I think they understood Congress could be the problem.”

And he said he doesn’t even think a constitutional convention would happen. Once 33 states apply — before the 34-state application threshold would prompt the convention — DeSantis said it’d push Congress to pass their own balanced budget amendment.

Little suggested the risk of not acting is high.

“We don’t even think it’s going to get to 34 votes. We think things are going to happen,” Little told reporters. “There’s all those sidebars, all those guardrails we put on those. But then what’s the alternative? Do we want … our federal debt to go to $70 trillion and consume all of the capital and basically burden our children, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren. I think there is no other usable option, and our forefathers put it in the Constitution.”

Earlier this month, the Idaho House rejected a proposal by Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, that would’ve called for Idaho to submit three separate applications to amend the U.S. Constitution through a convention of the states, including for a balanced budget amendment.

Past attempts at getting the Idaho Legislature to call for a constitutional convention have failed. Last year, representatives of the Idaho Republican Party and the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance opposed an Idaho resolution to apply for a convention of the states.

DeSantis also plans to visit Montana on the same issue.