Last September, everyone in Kerrville was surprised when District Judge Karl Prohl suddenly resigned from the bench, with more than a year left in his term.  The Kerrville Daily Times reported on how Judge Prohl’s letter of resignation — effective immediately — shocked the courthouse.  One staffer supposed that at the age of 69, and after serving as judge for almost 19 years, Judge Prohl was simply ready to retire. 

We can assume that the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas could have enlightened the Kerrville folk, should they have chosen to do so.  Because last Friday, the AG’s Office obtained an indictment against retired judge Karl Prohl, and the jurist was arrested that evening.

Retired Kerrville Judge Karl Prohl was indicted on a felony charge of theft by a public servant that involves $34,706 purportedly received from public monies tagged for travel-related expenses. Within the indictment is a tally of seventeen (17) different payments made to Prohl by four different sources:  Kerr County, two probation departments, and the district attorney’s office. 

Right now, Karl Prohl is out on a personal recognizance bond.  He’s hired a lawyer and he’s offered to pay restitution. 

We’ll see if defense negotiations work here — there’s lots of rumors (there were, even back in September 2009) that Prohl’s case is intertwined with the indictment of former Kerr County District Attorney Ron Sutton for various bad acts.  That may well complicate Prohl’s defense and the easy exit that he has obviously desired.