Ada County Sheriff's Office and off-duty work

One paragraph, and the discretion is the Sheriff's alone

Section 2B.10 of the Ada County Sheriff's Office policy manual is three sentences long, and the first establishes the frame the rest hangs on: ACSO is the primary employer of all Sheriff's Office employees. Whatever else a deputy does, it is second.

From that follow two stated purposes — helping ensure an employee can perform their Sheriff's Office duties effectively and efficiently, and avoiding actual or perceived conflicts of interest or professional standards problems. And then the mechanism, which is a person rather than a process: the Sheriff shall have sole discretion of approving or denying any employee's secondary employment.

No committee, no chain of routing set out in the manual, no appeal named. Compare Boise, eighteen miles west, where a denial has to come with reasons and can be appealed to the Chief within ten days; or Texas, where the department must name the guideline it refused you under. Ada County publishes the decision-maker and stops.

What the definition catches

The definition is short and wide. Secondary employment is the provision of a service outside of the employee's specific job at the Sheriff's Office in exchange for a fee or other service and compensation — including operating any business, or providing paid consultancy services to another person or organisation.

Three things are worth pulling out of that sentence. It is written around services, not employers, so self-employment and one-off consultancy are inside it. It says fee or other service, so barter counts — being paid in work rather than money does not put an arrangement outside the rule. And running a business is named specifically, which means a side venture with no customers yet is still the Sheriff's to approve.

The silences, and they are large

This page would be dishonest if it did not say plainly what the manual leaves out. There is no weekly hour cap, no rest requirement between a detail and a shift, no list of prohibited industries, no named form or renewal period, no rule on wearing the uniform or taking a patrol car to a second job, and nothing on who carries the liability if something goes wrong on one.

That is not the same as saying those things do not exist. A sheriff's office of this size runs on written directives, forms and practice underneath the published manual, and none of that is public. What it means for a deputy is practical: on second jobs, the published manual will not answer your question, and the answer comes from the chain of command.

It also means an application here is a conversation rather than a checklist. Where Boise publishes nine categories of prohibited work, a deputy in Ada County reasoning about whether a job will be approved has the two stated tests to go on — can you still do the job properly, and does it create a conflict, real or perceived.

Off duty, the manual is specific about acting as a deputy

Section 2B.11 is where the detail is, and it reads as carefully written. The decision to become involved in a law enforcement action off duty can place a deputy and others at great risk, and initiating enforcement action while off duty is generally discouraged.

Deputies should not attempt to act on minor crimes — suspected intoxicated drivers, reckless driving, minor property crimes are the examples given. Those are reported promptly to the appropriate agency, and the manual adds a line that is easy to miss and worth keeping: the deputy may act as a witness in order to remain safe. Being the person who saw it is a legitimate role.

Deputies are not expected to place themselves in unreasonable peril. A commissioned deputy who becomes aware of an incident they reasonably believe poses an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death, or significant property damage, may take reasonable action to minimise it — but where public safety or preventing major property damage requires immediate action, the manual still asks them to first consider reporting and monitoring, with direct action a last resort.

Carrying off duty, and the alcohol line

Deputies may carry firearms off duty in accordance with federal regulations and ACSO policy. The conditions are specific: any firearm and ammunition carried so a deputy can respond to criminal activity in a law enforcement capacity must meet the manual's firearms guidelines, and a deputy carrying off duty shall also carry ACSO identification.

On alcohol the manual draws two different lines rather than one. Deputies should refrain from carrying when the consumption of alcohol is likely, or when the need to carry is outweighed by safety considerations — a judgement call, made before you go out. And then a flat prohibition: a firearm shall not be carried by any deputy who has consumed an amount of alcohol, or taken any drugs, that would tend to adversely affect their senses or judgement.

It is worth reading that against Anchorage, which bars department weapons off duty after any amount of alcohol at all and warns that an officer who acts under color of authority after drinking may not be indemnified. Ada County sets the test at effect rather than at zero, and says nothing about indemnity either way.

Where your authority stops

The manual points at the statute directly: a deputy's authority as a peace officer may not extend to actions taken outside their jurisdiction unless there is probable cause to believe the crime is a felony or presents an immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death. That is Idaho Code 67-2337, and Boise Police cite the same section in their own off-duty policy.

For a deputy living outside Ada County, or driving through Canyon County on the way home, that is the provision that decides whether they are an officer or a witness at the roadside.

What this page cannot tell you

The version of the manual published online is dated 6 October 2023. Anything issued since — a new directive, a revised section, a form — is not in it and is not on this page.

And because 2B.10 is three sentences, most of what a deputy actually wants to know about a second job is not published anywhere we can read: how to ask, how long approval lasts, what gets refused, and what happens if the answer is no.

Vehicles

Section 2B.17 says ACSO vehicles shall be used only for official business and, where approved, for commuting so that employees can respond to Sheriff's Office business outside their regular work hours. Secondary employment is not official business, and the manual makes no provision for taking a county car to one.

Every agency here, side by side on vehicles →

Common questions

Do Ada County deputies need approval for a second job?

Yes. Section 2B.10 of the ACSO policy manual places approval or denial of any employee's secondary employment at the Sheriff's sole discretion, with the Sheriff's Office treated as the primary employer of all its employees.

What counts as secondary employment at the Ada County Sheriff's Office?

The provision of a service outside the employee's specific job at the Sheriff's Office in exchange for a fee or other service and compensation, including operating any business or providing paid consultancy services to another person or organisation.

Can an Ada County deputy take police action while off duty?

It is generally discouraged. Deputies should not act on minor crimes and should report them instead, and may act as a witness to remain safe. Reasonable action is permitted where the deputy reasonably believes there is an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death or significant property damage, with reporting and monitoring considered first.

Can Ada County deputies carry a firearm off duty?

Yes, in accordance with federal regulations and ACSO policy, with the firearm and ammunition meeting the manual's firearms guidelines and ACSO identification carried as well. A firearm must not be carried by a deputy who has consumed alcohol or taken drugs in an amount that would tend to adversely affect their senses or judgement.