Charges against Pahranagat Valley football coach dismissed

All charges against ex-Pahranagat Valley football coach Ken Higbee have been dropped.

Higbee, charged last April with a 225-count criminal complaint that includes forgery, misconduct and theft, had his case thrown out of the Seventh Judicial District Court in Lincoln County last Thursday, the Review-Journal learned Monday.

“In my opinion there just was no evidence to support the allegations,” Bret Whipple, Higbee’s attorney, said.

According to the complaint, Higbee, also the principal at C.O. Bastian, was accused of using funds appropriated for that school and funneling it to the athletic programs of Pahranagat Valley High School and Lincoln County High School. The charge included 76 felony counts and 149 gross misdemeanor counts.

“They made some allegations, and they were vague, they were general,” Whipple said. “At the end of the day, the preliminary hearing required some showing of probable cause, or some showing of wrongdoing, and they weren’t able to do it (225) times.”

The court agreed that the evidence, which included receipts of sports equipment and documents from the schools, “were admitted without proper authentication or foundation.”

In a footnote, the court order read, “The true irony is that by failing to properly present its case, the State has wasted an enormous amount of judicial resources.”

Under Higbee, Pahranagat Valley set a national eight-man record with 104 straight wins and won eight consecutive state championships before falling in the Class 1A state title game to Spring Mountain in November 2016. Higbee coached for 22 years and won 11 state championships.

Before last football season, new coach Brett Hansen said Higbee retired when his son Christian Higbee graduated, and dismissed the idea that the charges were related. Hansen said that Higbee had been planning to leave after the 2016 season.

“It probably didn’t end the way they wanted and with that whole deal, but it was his decision to leave with Christian,” Hansen said.

On Oct. 1, 2017, Higbee was fired from Lincoln County School District.

Pahranagat Valley went 12-0 and won the Class 1A state championship under Hansen in 2017.

No warrant was ever issued for Higbee’s arrest. The case was dismissed without prejudice, and the prosecution can choose to refile charges.

“He was lambasted, lost his job, lost his home,” Whipple said, adding that Higbee is considering filing for bankruptcy. “He’s had a horrible thing happen to him, and all he was trying to do was help the community.”

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Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer David Ferrara contributed to this story.