Hounshell returns as county investigator

He's back.

Brian Hounshell, the former Apache County sheriff who became the target of a $1.3 million effort to remove him from office, is now back working for the county, as an investigator for the County Attorney's Office.

This is the same office - but under a different county attorney - that led the attack against Hounshell when he was a four-term sheriff.

Hounshell spent most of 2005 through 2007 fighting lawsuits and complaints from county officials, before finally stepping down in a plea agreement with the special prosecutor hired to investigate him.

Michael B. Whiting, who became county attorney in January, said he realized that Hounshell was a controversial figure when he hired him but Whiting pointed out that a three-member hiring committee selected Hounshell as the best of the applicants who applied for the job.

He said that while he and Hounshell grew up in the same area of Apache County, they didn't know each other. Hounshell's problems were never an issue in his campaign for the county attorney's office, Whiting said, adding that he didn't make any campaign promises to hire Hounshell if he was elected.

Several people applied for the investigator position, one of them a former police officer who specialized in narcotics. While he had the experience, committee members felt that his training was too limited and the county needed someone who had experience in handling all sorts of crimes, from shoplifting to murder, which Hounshell had.

Hounshell, who since stepping down as sheriff in 2007 had been working for a county social services program helping low-income families get benefits, said he was happy to get a chance to go back into investigations.

"All my rights have been restored," he said, adding that while he cannot run for public office - he agreed not to as part of his plea deal - he can carry a gun and vote.

He also stressed that he's going into his new job with no animosity against anyone in the county government who worked so hard to get him removed as sheriff.

As a county attorney's investigator, he will work closely with investigators for the sheriff's office and Hounshell said he and the current sheriff, Joe Dedman, get along very well.

Hounshell was indicted in 2005 by the state after three deputies in his department complained of alleged misdeeds on his part.

The indictment listed 11 felony counts of conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and theft, claiming he used county personnel and equipment for personal gain. The allegations included that he used employees to remodel his home, filed false expense reports for personal travel, and used county resources to bolster his re-election campaign.

After the indictments, Hounshell went on the offensive, claiming that the accusations were nothing more than an attempt by some county officials to go after him for putting too much of his department's resources into covering the northern, Navajo, portion of Apache County.

As sheriff, Hounshell was immensely popular with Navajos and tribal officials were outspoken in their defense of him.

The state charges against him were thrown out on a technicality, but the battle raged on in St. Johns, the county seat, with county supervisors attempting to suspend him from office though various means. Hounshell won these battles and filed a civil suit against the county to get his legal fees paid, which eventually the county agreed to do.

However, the board of supervisors then hired a former Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, to investigate the allegations against Hounshell, resulting in a multi-count indictment, this time by a local grand jury.

Hounshell eventually pleaded guilty to a single charge of misusing $8,000 in public funds - the county by now had spent $1.3 million on its case against him.

He agreed to step down as sheriff and was sentenced to three years of probation and a one-year deferred jail sentence. His plea agreement included a stipulation that he never hold public office again.

The conviction was later reduced from a Class 6 felony to a misdemeanor.

There's only one sheriff's deputy still working for the department among those who complained about Hounshell to the state attorney general.

Whiting said he hoped that eventually Hounshell and that officer would be able to work together but if that is not possible, Whiting said he would assign his other investigator to work with that officer.

The bottom line, Whiting said, is that Hounshell's selection will benefit the county by having an experienced investigator on staff who can help solve crimes and make the county a safer place.

The big question, however, is how much opposition will come from other county officials, including county supervisors who were among Hounshell's most relentless adversaries.

Whiting said that when he went before the Board of Supervisors for funding for Hounshell's position, the vote was 2-1 in favor with Tom White, who represents the Fort Defiance area, voting no.

White was one of Hounshell's most vocal critics as sheriff and he said Wednesday that some people were going around saying the board of supervisors had hired Hounshell.

"That's not true," he said. "The decision was made by Whiting alone."

Under county policy, elected officials have the right to hire whoever they want as long as it is at the minimum of that pay scale. It's only when a higher wage is desired that it comes before the board for approval.

White said he heard rumors at the board meeting that Whiting was thinking of hiring Hounshell for the investigator position, and that he was opposed to it because it looked like "political favoritism."

"I said he should have hired the most qualified and not make it on political favoritism, not because they were friends."

Whiting said it had nothing to do with friendship, pointing to the decision by the hiring review committee that Hounshell was the top candidate.

Grant Wood, meanwhile, confirmed to the Arizona Republic that he is investigating the possibility that Hounshell's decision to take the job violated his plea agreement and if so, more criminal proceedings may be needed.

"It's a joke," T.J. Bond told the Arizona Republic. Bond managed the county attorney's office during much of the time that Hounshell was sheriff.

"It's cronyism at its worst . . . the county spent a lot of money - taxpayer's money - convicting this guy," Bond said.

Although it is not as controversial as his decision to hire Hounshell, Whiting also announced that he is hiring Irwin Hugh Lynch, Hounshell's former top aide, as a community liaison officer.

Lynch, a former deputy sheriff under Hounshell, was convicted of perjury after he admitted to several counts of lying to a grand jury in 2007.

Hounshell said the indictment of Lynch, an elder in the Klagetoh, Ariz., community, was an effort to get at Hounshell himself.

Whiting said he didn't expect to see as much opposition to Lynch's hiring as he did for Hounshell. Lynch will be responsible for going around the county and talking to community groups, chapters, the elderly and the youth on subjects ranging from drug abuse to elder abuse.

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