Idaho Attorney General Finds Twin Falls School Board Chair Violated Elections Integrity Law
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office has determined that Eric Smallwood, board chair of the Twin Falls School District, violated the state’s Public Integrity in Elections Act following comments he made at a mandatory district staff meeting in January. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye issued a formal cease-and-desist warning to Smallwood in an April 23 letter, stopping short of levying an immediate civil penalty but putting the trustee on notice that future violations would result in financial consequences.
The Public Integrity in Elections Act prohibits public officials from using public funds or government property to advocate for or against any candidate or ballot measure. Smallwood has declined to comment on the findings, telling Idaho Education News on Wednesday that he had nothing to say.
What Smallwood Said — and What the Attorney General Found
On January 5, Smallwood held a presentation at a district facility during a mandatory staff meeting, at which the school district provided breakfast. During his remarks, Smallwood spoke about the importance of voting in the May primary election, described “quite a few” state legislators as opponents of public education, and cited two races from the 2024 primary — one decided by 782 votes and another by 1,247 votes. Those margins correspond to the election results of Twin Falls Republicans Rep. David Leavitt and Sen. Josh Kohl, respectively.
Smallwood did not name the two legislators by name during the meeting. However, the Attorney General’s Office rejected that distinction as legally meaningful.
“You may not have named them, but your message was clear: the staff should support public education by participating in the Republican primary and voting against the candidates who won the two races you cited from 2024,” Nye wrote in the cease-and-desist letter.
Nye’s letter further outlined the compounding factors that elevated the conduct to a legal violation: “In your public position as the school board chairman in the Twin Falls School District, you requested a meeting to discuss the upcoming primary, held the meeting on public property, made the meeting mandatory for public educators, provided a breakfast at the school district’s expense, and then used that opportunity to advocate against two candidates in Twin Falls County,” Nye wrote.
The letter also noted the apparent coordination between Smallwood’s presentation and the Idaho Education Association’s “May Matters” campaign, which was running simultaneously and stressed the importance of the May primary. Nye acknowledged that teachers’ unions retain First Amendment rights to engage in political activity, but stated that Smallwood, as a public trustee, cannot “circumvent the law” by coordinating with such organizations to advocate against candidates using public resources.
Republican Legislators Filed the Complaint
Days after the January staff meeting, four Twin Falls-area Republican legislators — Rep. David Leavitt, Sen. Josh Kohl, Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, and Rep. Clint Hostetler — jointly filed a complaint with Attorney General Raúl Labrador alleging the law had been violated. All four are facing primary challengers ahead of the May election.
The complaint led to the formal review that resulted in Nye’s April letter. The warning stops short of a civil penalty for now, but Nye made the state’s position clear going forward: “If we are asked to review your future conduct and find a violation of the act, we will seek a civil penalty as well as attorney fees to recoup the public expense of enforcement.”
The findings arrive amid a broader state push to limit the influence of teachers’ unions on public school operations. Gov. Brad Little signed legislation in April — House Bill 516 — that prohibits public schools from using taxpayer resources to accommodate teachers’ unions. The bill passed in the final days of the legislative session. Rep. Hostetler, one of the four legislators who filed the complaint against Smallwood, debated in favor of the measure on the House floor. He argued that teachers’ union dues fund ideology that does not serve students, saying, “Taxpayer dollars belong in the schools for the children, for the purpose of learning, not for the association.”
For more on Twin Falls County legal matters, see our recent report on a Twin Falls man charged with possessing child pornography. For broader Idaho government and education coverage, visit Idaho News.
What Comes Next
Smallwood has been directed to cease and desist from similar conduct ahead of the May primary. The Attorney General’s Office has not filed civil charges at this time, but made clear that any future violations will be pursued with financial penalties. The May primary remains weeks away, and the four Republican legislators who filed the original complaint are all on the ballot. Whether the cease-and-desist letter has broader implications for school district officials across Idaho — and how aggressively the Attorney General’s Office intends to enforce the Public Integrity in Elections Act in this election cycle — remains to be seen.