Former I.F. prosecutor charged

Kimball Mason charged with felony grand theft and falsifying public record

By PAUL MENSER

pmenser@postregister.com

Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason has until April 3 to appear before a judge on two charges of felony grand theft and one of falsifying a public record, also a felony.

The Idaho attorney general's office announced Monday that it had issued a summons for Mason, who had been serving as Idaho Falls city prosecutor until his resignation Jan. 23.

Mason, 51, is charged with stealing two pistols, a Ruger .357 revolver and a Lorcin 9 mm semiautomatic, from the city of Idaho Falls. The incidents are alleged to have happened between May 2001 and July 2005.

He is also charged with willfully altering a court order in February 2004. The order, signed by 7th District Judge Keith M. Walker, was kept as part of an official government record for the state of Idaho and the city of Idaho Falls.

The order is not the same as one obtained by the Post Register, which Mason presented to police in 2003 in order to receive a 9 mm Llama semiautomatic handgun and a Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle. The weapons were seized in October 2002 from Jimmie Caudle, who had been arrested on three misdemeanors.

At the request of Bonneville County Prosecutor Dane Watkins Jr., the Attorney General's Special Prosecutions Unit is handling the case.

Watkins said he could not comment on the case.

Under Idaho Law, Mason could face up to 14 years in prison on each charge. The maximum fine for grand theft is $5,000.

Bob Cooper, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the state began investigating Mason in November after Idaho Falls City Attorney Dale Storer forwarded information to them.

Mason is to appear before Magistrate Judge Earl Blower, who will advise him of his rights and the charges against him and set bail.

Efforts to reach Mason for comment were unsuccessful.

Mason was elected Bonneville County Prosecutor in 1982. In May 1992, he lost in the Republican primary to David Johnson.

After leaving the county office, the city hired him to prosecute misdemeanor and statutory offenses. By the time his contract ended in January this year, his office was receiving $112,000 a year.

Since Mason was put on administrative leave, the city has been letting the Bonneville County prosecutor's office handle the city's caseload, paying it $2,000 a week.

Mayor Jared Fuhriman said the city and the county were planning to announce a contract today making the arrangement long-term through December 2007.

Fuhriman said he was saddened to hear about the charges against Mason, with whom he worked when he was an officer with the Idaho Falls Police.

"It's just too bad. Kimball put a lot of years into the city," he said.