IDAHO FALLS – Eight new deputies will be on duty in the Bonneville County Jail after graduating from the College of Eastern Idaho’s first Adult Detention Academy.

Clad in cowboy hats, the graduates received their certificates last week after seven weeks, or about 235 hours, of instruction.

It’s the fourth academy completed at CEI. The college has graduated two patrol academies and an Emergency Communications Officer Academy.

CEI’s Law Enforcement Training Academy is accredited by Idaho’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), headquartered in Meridian.

Many police agencies in Idaho send their trainees to Meridian for training at the POST academy. CEI’s program “gives regional agencies another option to prepare personnel close to home while reducing travel costs,” a CEI press release stated.