POCATELLO — The owner of Downard Funeral Home was released from jail just over 24 hours after his arrest following an arraignment Wednesday afternoon at the Bannock County Courthouse.

Lance Peck, 47, was released from the Bannock County Jail around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday after posting a $20,000 bond.

Sixth District Magistrate Judge David Hooste had set Peck’s bond at $20,000 during an arraignment hearing at the Bannock County Courthouse with Peck appearing via video conference from the Bannock County Jail.

Peck’s Pocatello attorney, Richard J. Blok of Racine Olson, appeared in court on Peck’s behalf and Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog as well as Senior Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Godfrey appeared for the state of Idaho.

Herzog asked for a $50,000 bond for Peck, arguing that such an amount would help to serve as a guarantee that Peck will appear for future hearings as the case is adjudicated. Herzog told Hooste that he was concerned for Peck’s wellbeing after Peck told Pocatello police investigators on Sept. 2, 2021, that he was contemplating suicide. Additionally, Herzog inquired whether it would be possible to set a condition for Peck that upon his release that he be required to participate in some type of counseling or treatment program to assist with thoughts about self-harm.

Blok argued that since the initial investigation unfolded, Peck has remained in Pocatello while knowing that criminal charges were likely forthcoming so he has no intention to flee the area or commit any acts of self-harm, adding that he has a great support system within his immediate family. Peck’s wife, daughter and parents were present in the courtroom for the arraignment hearing.

Hooste explained that typically the bond amount for misdemeanors as outlined by Idaho criminal rules is a maximum of $300, and that if the max were applied to all 63 charges filed against Peck, the bond amount would be $18,900. Hooste also said it would not be possible to order Peck to complete some type of treatment program upon his release.

Hooste ultimately set Peck’s bond at $20,000, ordered that he not leave the state for any reason without seeking permission from the courts and ordered Peck to surrender his passports or any other documents that would allow him to leave the country.

Both Herzog and Blok declined to comment further following Peck’s arraignment hearing.

Peck is due back in court for a pre-trial conference on Sept. 19.

Pocatello police arrested Peck on Tuesday after Bannock County prosecutors charged him with 63 misdemeanors for violating the Idaho Mortician’s Code of Conduct, according to a news release from the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office and Pocatello Police Department.

Peck was taken into custody without incident around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as he was arriving at his Pocatello home, according to police. He was subsequently booked into Bannock County Jail, spending one night at the facility before his Wednesday release.

Peck faces 60 counts of unprofessional conduct by a mortician, funeral director or embalmer and three counts of petit theft, according to court records.

The allegations against Peck as outlined in a criminal complaint filed against him on Tuesday are startling.

Some of the allegations state Peck removed the corneas of a deceased individual without consent from family members; that he accepted payment from a local funeral home to cremate three bodies and then delivered the cremated remains to the funeral home despite never having cremated the bodies — which were discovered at Downard Funeral Home; that he cremated a body against the wishes of a family member; and that he failed to refrigerate two bodies.

The 63 charges filed against Peck on Tuesday were driven by Idaho’s statute of limitations, which requires misdemeanor charges be filed within one year after the date of the offense. Authorities said they began investigating Peck on Sept. 1, 2021.

If convicted of all the charges against him and sentences are ordered to be served consecutively, Peck faces a maximum penalty of over 30 years in jail.

The results of the investigation, which is still ongoing, were delivered to the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office in mid-June 2022. Two prosecutors have been assigned to review the findings of the investigation, which comprises approximately 4,500 pages.

The investigation touches upon a number of Idaho statutes, including vital statistics, anatomical donations and the conduct of morticians.

Authorities emphasized Tuesday that more serious felony charges will be filed against Peck as their investigation continues.

The misdemeanor charges against Peck mark the first dominoes to fall in the criminal investigation into his activities as the owner and director of Downard Funeral Home, 241 N. Garfield Ave.

The investigation first began when officials with the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, which oversees the state’s Board of Morticians, visited Downard on Sept. 1, 2021, observed conditions that were in violation of the board’s laws and rules, and contacted the Pocatello Police Department to report their findings.

The Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses had received several complaints about Peck and Downard before visiting the funeral home.

Peck surrendered his license to operate Downard on Sept. 1, 2021, and on Sept. 3, 2021, police executed a search warrant at the funeral home as well as the crematory located in the same building.

As a result of the search warrant, Pocatello police located 12 bodies in various stages of decomposition, approximately 50 fetuses in jars and dozens of unidentified cremated remains. Police also confiscated thousands of digital and paper records from Downard.

Police were eventually able to positively identify the 12 bodies and determine the fetuses were part of a biological science collection donated from the University of Utah to Idaho State University and then to Downard for destruction. But they were never destroyed, police said.

On Tuesday, authorities elaborated that their investigation grew to include 88 deceased individuals whose bodies were in some way handled by Peck.

“In all my years, I have never seen a case so disturbing as this one,” said Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei. “Our hearts go out to the family members affected by this tragic event, to the community, and to all the officers involved.”