Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue made history last week.
Donahue was sworn in as the president of the National Sheriffs’ Association on Thursday in Oklahoma City, with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office making an official announcement on social media . After first being elected to a vice president position in the organization in 2021, Donahue was in line to become president in 2024.
Donahue is the 84th person to serve as president of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the first Idaho sheriff to hold the position. He was on the organization’s board for 10 years in addition to having VP roles, but now his position could put the state and Donahue in the national eye.
“In my very humble opinion this is a tremendous opportunity for the state of Idaho and the western United States as a whole to be represented on a national level,” Donahue told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. “There has never been a sheriff from Idaho who has even reached the executive committee leadership role, let alone be the president.”
In a one-year term, Donahue will be responsible for leading a group that represents more than 3,000 sheriffs across the country. He also will be tasked with testifying in Congress — providing an official stance from the National Sheriffs’ Association on key issues — and even providing briefs to the Supreme Court.
First elected as Canyon County sheriff in 2012, Donahue is running unopposed this year for a fourth term. In his role as the national organization’s president, he said he’ll be committed to working with sheriff’s offices across the country to improve border security, address terrorism threats, and focus on thwarting domestic violence and human trafficking, he told the Statesman.
“Anything that affects law enforcement, we are engaged at the highest level of government,” Donahue said. “To have that kind of responsibility you can actually help push the narrative again in Congress. That’s pretty powerful.”
Donahue has been a strong vocal supporter of strengthening the United States’ border with Mexico, saying Idaho needs to send more personnel to states to “resist undocumented immigrants crossing the border.”
“We need to assist states like Texas, states like Arizona, states like New Mexico,” Donahue said in August 2023 at a public meeting of the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Committee on Federalism. “We can and should send troops down, whether it’s National Guard troops or whether it’s state troopers.”
Donahue said he’s committed to working with elected officials anywhere on the political spectrum, even those he won’t see eye-to-eye with, for the greater good of the country.
“I have to set my personal feelings aside and decide what is best for the country,” Donahue said. “Whether you’re Republican, Democrat or you’re Independent, what is the issue before us and how do we navigate with Congress and the sitting president to make sure we move the needle in the correct direction?”
Donahue’s tenure has earned him widespread support in heavily conservative Canyon County, but he has been involved in some controversies.
In September 2022, Canyon County paid $600,000 to two former sheriff’s deputies who said they were victims of retaliation when they were fired by Donahue in 2020 after campaigning for Nick Schlader, who was running for sheriff against Donahue, according to previous Statesman reporting .
Donahue was also named in a lawsuit against the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office by a former employee who made claims of harassment and gender discrimination after leaving her job in 2022, the Statesman reported . The department paid her $425,000 last year in a settlement.
Most Popular
Comments / 0