AG investigating Mason contracts

The ex-prosecutor may have illegally used signature stamps in mental commitment cases.

Bonneville County is home to Behavioral Health Center, the largest private mental health facility in the area. So when neighboring county prosecutors wanted to commit someone there against their will, they paid former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason to do it.

For years, the contracts were an extra source of cash for Mason, who is now serving time for stealing weapons from the Idaho Falls Police Department's evidence room.

His handling of those cases is now under investigation by the Idaho Attorney General's Office. State investigators launched this probe after it came to light during a separate inquiry that Mason may have illegally used the signature stamps of local magistrate judges in these contracted mental commitment cases.

An Attorney General's office spokeswoman said she could not comment on specific details of the probe because it is pending.

Mason was making money on these commitment cases although how much is unknown.

Jefferson County Prosecutor Robin Dunn paid Mason roughly $2,500 for six cases last year. Dunn said the side work was "gravy" for Mason.

Madison County Prosecutor Sid Brown also contracted with Mason, as did prosecutors from Clark, Fremont and Lemhi counties, said Tava Gee, Brown's legal assistant.

Efforts were unsuccessful to reach these prosecutors Friday about how often they used Mason and how much they paid him.

Under state law, a person can be involuntarily committed into the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare if a designated examiner determines a patient is: mentally ill; likely to injure himself or others, or is gravely disabled; and lacks the capacity to make informed decisions about treatment.

If a judge determines these criteria are met, a hearing is scheduled. The proposed patient is provided an attorney, if he can't afford one, who argues why he shouldn't be institutionalized. The prosecutor argues on behalf of Health and Welfare through whatever county he is representing.

Dunn said Mason was paid $400 for every commitment case he worked on. He said they contracted with Mason for about 15 years because it was cheaper than the alternative.

Jefferson County also contracted with Idaho Falls attorney John Stosich, who is tangled in the Mason case, to represent the patients in the commitment cases.

Stosich, who's under investigation for allegedly safehousing some of the guns Mason stole, may have prompted this latest probe into the signature forgeries.

According to a probable cause affidavit Deputy Attorney General Jay Rosenthal filed Sept. 6, Stosich said he observed Mason stamping a transport order in a mental commitment case in his office with Magistrate Judge L. Mark Riddoch's signature stamp on at least one occasion.

Stosich said he's been advised not to speak about the ongoing investigation, but he did reveal that possibly implicating Mason -- his good friend -- was not hard for him to do.

"It's the truth," he said.

Dunn said he would be surprised if Mason scammed the system with the cases he handled for Jefferson County.

Normally, Dun said, he would receive a bill from a judge for the work Mason performed. He said Mason could have stamped a judge's signature on orders for patients who didn't exist, but that it was unlikely because he knows most of the people in his small county.

"I'm 99 percent confident that that was never abused," Dunn said.

Cops and Courts reporter Phil Davidson can be reached at 542-6750.

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