Attorney General finishes Jefferson County investigation

The Idaho Attorney General’s office has finished their investigation of wrongdoings by county leaders in Jefferson County.

The office sent the county commissioners a 9-page letter saying they have completed their probe into them and the county prosecutor, Robin Dunn.

The letter dated October 7, 2015 said the AG’s office looked into several complaints from citizens including those that involved misuse of funds and authority.

Their investigation did find the misuse of a county cell phone by Sheriff Blair Olsen, who was prosecuted and found guilty in May. The sheriff has filed an appeal to the case.

Complaints against Robin Dunn included eight allegations, including benefiting his private firm with county resources and willfully destroying, altering, falsifying, or committing the theft of public records.

The AG’s office said the evidence was presented to a Grand Jury twice, but less than 12 jurors voted in favor of an indictment each time. They said they will take no further action regarding these allegations.

Commissioners Gerald Raymond, Scott Hancock and Brian Farnsworth were accused of supporting or participating in approving county expenditures for private gain of other county officers, approving fraudulent expenditures and failing to take action against the sheriff for misusing a cell phone. The AG’s office said these allegations no longer warrant further investigation or prosecution.

The AG’s office suggested some remedies to their problems, such as creating policies for managing public funds, watching those expenditures more closely and getting more training.

The letter shows examples of how funds may have been misused because there was no policy to outline their boundaries. It explained how the sheriff used the credit card for meals in excess of $50. But no records were kept to identify why these were used.

It also explained how the prosecutor doesn’t keep track of his public vs. private business time. Again they suggest the prosecutor keep better records to show his time spent for county business.

The letter also suggested the commissioner and other county leaders to get more training from organizations such as the Idaho Association of Counties and the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program.

Robin Dunn said, “I knew I didn’t do anything wrong. I still believe I didn’t do anything wrong, but regardless of what I say or what I do, there will be some people that think their opinion is correct.”

Bruce Baxter, founder of the restoring integrity project said his group is very disappointed by the findings.

Baxter said once they’ve thoroughly analyzed the Attorney General’s correspondence, they anticipate forwarding it on to the FBI.