Boise County is asking the state attorney general for help in investigating allegations against its own officials. The accusations include interfering in a law enforcement investigation, violating open meeting laws, electioneering and misuse of public funds.
This comes a week after media reported on a lawsuit accusing Boise County Commissioner Darrell “Lindy” Lindstrom of stabbing a minor last summer during a riverside altercation.
That civil case alleges Lindstrom and two other defendants aggressively confronted a family on the Payette River following a verbal disagreement. The plaintiffs, a mother and her two children, said the commissioner threatened their lives and assaulted the teen girl who needed emergency medical treatment for stab wounds.
The family reported the August 2025 incident immediately to Boise County Sheriff's deputies who were called on scene. The lawsuit, filed in April – or roughly seven months after the altercation – said the plaintiffs faced “delays and stalls from the Boise County authorities.”
On Monday, the Boise County Prosecuting Attorney’s office filed a petition to transfer the investigation to an outside prosecutor, a standard procedure to avoid conflicts of interest. On Tuesday, a district court judge approved the petition and on Wednesday, the case was transferred to Gem County Prosecuting Attorney Erick Thomson.
In a separate letter, the Boise County Prosecuting Attorney’s office asked the Idaho Attorney General's office to look into the handling of the investigation. Directed to do so by the commission, the Prosecuting Attorney Alex Sosa also requested assistance in investigating broader allegations levied against unnamed Boise County officials.
In a copy of the letter Sosa provided to Boise State Public Radio, he wrote, “the allegations involve Boise County Commissioners concealing/coercing a law enforcement investigation in Boise County Sheriff's Office’s [Payette River altercation] case [...], open meeting law violations at Boise County Commissioner meetings from the Board or others using information learned in executive sessions, electioneering from Boise County staff, and misuse of public funds from a fuel tank being parked at a Commissioner's residence.”
It’s unclear who made these allegations and which Boise County officials were implicated.
The letter, signed by the county’s three commissioners – including Lindstrom – said the request seeks “to avoid the slightest appearance of impropriety and to promote public confidence in the outcome.”
Lindstrom did not respond to requests for comment. The state attorney general’s office said it had received the letter and was looking into next steps.
