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Justin Oleson has been disbarred after the Idaho Supreme Court found he had violated seven ethical rules. | Screenshot from Idaho State Supreme Court video in 2023
CHALLIS — Custer County’s prosecuting attorney has been disbarred from practicing law after he was found to have violated multiple ethical rules.
Justin Oleson, who also works in private practice, was found to have violated seven of the Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct by the Idaho Supreme Court, according to documents filed Wednesday. The result was his immediate disbarment.
An emergency motion to stay the disbarment was filed but was denied. According to the motion, the appellant, Oleson, has 14 days to “wind up and complete on behalf of any client, all matters pending,” including the current trial in which he was involved in Custer County.
The Idaho Supreme Court decision was authored by Justice Gregory Moeller. In addition to his immediate disbarment, the decision also prevents Oleson from practicing law in Idaho for five years.
EastIdahoNews.com attempted to reach Oleson for comment but did not hear back.
The complaint
The investigation into Oleson was sparked by a complaint filed against him by the Idaho State Bar, alleging his misconduct in a divorce case.
EastIdahoNews.com previously reported Oleson was representing Jeff Katseanes, who had failed to pay Judy Katseanes (now Judy Yancey) spousal support.
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According to Moeller’s opinion, on Jan. 28, 2020, the divorce court granted Yancey a judgment motion for $90,634, which was later amended to $106,468.
A qualified domestic relations order was orally granted, awarding Yancey, Jeff Katseanes’s 401(k) plan.
That is when Oleson advised Katseanes to liquidate his entire retirement fund to “act quickly” and “get money pulled.”
The opinion states Katseanes testified that Oleson had advised him there were no holds on his account nor any of the consequences if he acted on the advice.
The bar’s complaint against Oleson alleged that he spoke with an employee of the company managing Katseanes’s account and told them there were no holds. On Jan. 15, 2021, Katseanes received $61,947.
The opinion states Katseanes paid Oleson $5,700 for his legal work and the attorney later received $19,000 through Katseanes other ex-wife.
“These funds were deposited in the general account of Oleson’s law firm and later spent, although Oleson later denied knowing of the deposits at the time,” the opinion states.
The company that oversaw Katseanes’ account later notified Yancey, and she filed a restraining order preventing further spending.
Oleson alleged that the qualified domestic relation order wasn’t effective until it was signed, but District Judge Stevan H. Thompson accused him of “mincing words.”
Yancey filed motions to compel Katseanes to provide an accounting to the court, but Oleson testified that he would not file that paperwork based on his “legal decision.”
The opinion states he did not inform Katseanes of the consequences for failing to comply.
Yancey was granted another motion to compel on April 21, 2021, and Oleson filed the accounting paperwork six days later, a day late from the deadline of the imposed order.
Yancey filed a motion of contempt on Katseanes, which was heard in district court on June 3, 2021.
Oleson represented Katseanes for the contempt hearing, and the opinion states he “did not call any witnesses to rebut the allegations that Jeff failed to timely supply the court with the accounting and he did not disclose his role in the decision to delay filing the report with the court.”
Due to this, Katseanes was found in contempt and sentenced to a maximum of five days in jail but served three.
‘He should know better’
According to Moeller’s opinion, Oleson had been disciplined by the Idaho State Bar twice in his 23 years as an attorney, once in 2020 and in 2023. Both were private reprimands.
However, the opinion states, “Oleson was found to have violated at least one of the same rules that he violated in this case.”
“This troubling history demonstrates a pattern of misconduct and shows that Oleson’s malfeasance in this case is not an isolated incident.”
The opinion states that, considering Oleson was an attorney, there was no excuse for his actions.
“Simply stated, he should know better,” the opinion states.
The other factor the opinion cites is Oleson’s character of refusing to acknowledge his misconduct.
It cites how when Katseanes was sentenced to serve jail time, Oleson had testified that “jail is not that bad.”
“We also conclude that Oleson also had a selfish and dishonest motive for his misconduct, which is a significant aggravating factor,” the opinion states.
When referring to the incident around the qualified domestic relations order, it states Oleson had profited from his misconduct by requesting to get paid earlier and having the money moved into his firm’s operating account.
“We highlight the fact that Oleson violated the Rules of Professional Conduct in seven discrete ways,” the opinion states.
The opinion states that the Idaho State Bar reported that Oleson had participated in his disciplinary proceedings and had responded timely to the Bar’s Professional Conduct Board Hearing Committee.
However, Oleson’s arguments to the court painted a different picture.
It states Oleson labeled the investigation by the Bar as a “witch hunt” based on “false and uncorroborated evidence.”
The opinion states, “We conclude that there is no evidence that this was a ‘witch hunt’ against Oleson.”
Overall, the opinion states that judges saw Oleson’s past and his current case against him and found that a public reprimand was “far too lenient.” It states that disbarment was the appropriate sanction.
“Only after much discussion and reflection have we determined that disbarment is appropriate in this instance because Oleson’s violations of the Professional Rules of Conduct were not only egregious of themselves, but also resulted in significant harm to his client and others,” the document states.
Separate from this case, Oleson has been the center of controversy before. He was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery over two incidents at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in 2019, when he allegedly dragged two teenage boys from a vehicle at the Demolition Derby. He also threatened to shoot down a helicopter flying over the fair. Oleson was serving on the fair board at the time.
According to court records, the two battery counts were dismissed in June 2021 and no charges were filed over the threats.
Looking ahead
Seventh Judicial District Trial Court Administrator Tammie Whyte told EastIdahoNews.com that although she cannot speak for Custer County, there are statutory provisions in place to handle when a county’s prosecutor isn’t available.
According to court records, Oleson was the prosecutor in the trial against Curtis Lee Canton, who was arrested after a standoff with police.
Whyte said she had spoken with District Judge Darren B. Simpson, who had excused the jury for the day. They’ll return at 9 a.m. Thursday.
“Some decisions will be made then about how to proceed,” Whyte said. “I’ve never seen this scenario before.”
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