Twin Falls County Prosecutor Announces Re-election Bid

Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs has announced his re-election bid this morning. The following is his statement:

Loebs has served as Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney since he was appointed in 1997. In announcing his candidacy, Loebs acknowledged his office’s huge caseload, “While the homicide cases are the most dramatic, we have a large and complex array of other criminal issues in Twin Falls.” As the New Year begins the caseload in the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is at record levels. Nearly 900 cases were filed in 2018 and 2019 levels were nearly as high.

Loebs declared his commitment to fighting drugs in the Magic Valley, “Methamphetamine, opioids and other illegal drugs are at the core of our criminal problems in Twin Falls County and must continue to be addressed through swift, effective prosecution and treatment of drug offenders.” While working in cooperation with the Fifth District Court and the Juvenile Court in Twin Falls County to implement and utilize Drug Courts to treat the most addicted drug offenders, Loebs has instituted a unique drug treatment program in Twin Falls County to provide early treatment of entry-level drug offenders before they become entrenched in drug use or resort to other crime. Loebs also funds a scholarship every year to provide tuition to the College of Southern Idaho for local high school students who are committed to remaining drug free.

There are 6 murder cases currently pending and scheduled for trial during the spring and summer of 2020. During Loebs’s time as the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney, he has personally handled the prosecution of more than 70 homicides. Murder defendants Alisha Ann Murphy, John Horonzy, Christian Liebel, Jesse Ronquillo, Eric Ferrier, Junior Delacruz, Clarence Delacruz, Antonio Garcia, Nicholas Garcia, Alfred Ortiz, Vicki Arlene Jensen, Matthew Pearson, Autumn Pauls, Orlando Gonzales-Leon, Tim Lawson, Rolando Garza, Jr., Jody Carr, Donald Brink, Juan Carlos Fuentes-Pina, Johnny Shores, Jim Nice, James Steel, James John, Freddy Heredia-Juarez, Michael John, Nicole Baker, James Naranjo, John McElhiney, Cameron Watts, Dana Dade, Majid Kolestani, Thomas Trevino, Clark Cleveland, Damon Azure, William McGrath, Crystal Turner, Jacob Marshall, Jerry Kimball, and Glenn Tures, among others, have been convicted and sent to the state penitentiary during Loebs’s tenure.

Loebs also handles the county’s civil legal needs which have involved the complex sale of the county hospital to St. Luke’s and successfully arguing Twin Falls County’s redistricting challenge to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Loebs pointed out that he could not have achieved any of this had he not been able to assemble and maintain “a fine group of professional prosecutors and staff in whom I have the greatest confidence. I would match the professionalism of my staff against any in the state,” he said.

Loebs was raised in Pocatello, where he graduated from Pocatello High School in 1979. He graduated from Idaho State University with high honors in 1983 and went to Washington, D.C. to work for Idaho’s U.S. Senator Steven D. Symms. He served there as Senator Symms’s Legislative Assistant for Defense and Foreign Policy until 1987 when President Reagan appointed him Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. He worked there while attending George Washington University Law School in the evenings, graduating with high honors in 1991. In 1993, he came to Twin Falls to work as a Deputy Prosecutor.

Loebs serves as Idaho’s State Representative to the National Prosecuting Attorney’s Association (NDAA). He is also on the Board of Directors of the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association (IPAA). He served as the President of the IPAA in 2004, 2005, and 2016; the only IPAA President elected by his peers three times. He was selected as the Idaho Prosecutor of the Year in 2006. He became the first non-police officer to receive the Optimist Club’s Jim Mildon Memorial Respect for Law Enforcement Award in 2005. He also serves on many statewide boards and committees, including the Governor’s Criminal Justice Commission.

Loebs is married to his wife, Elisha, and together they have five children.

Loebs also announced his Campaign Manager will be local businessman Mel Quale, and his treasurer will be local attorney Jennifer Bergin.