Lawyer for State Held in Stalking Case : Crime: Chief counsel for the Board of Prison Terms faces a possible prison sentence on a felony charge. His former girlfriend is the alleged victim.

The chief legal counsel for the state Board of Prison Terms, David Brown, has been arrested on a felony charge of stalking his former girlfriend, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.

A 32-year state civil servant, Brown, 57, who is out of jail on $25,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court this week. The possible penalty for a felony stalking conviction is two to five years in state prison.

Brown has been placed on paid administrative leave from his state job, according to Board of Prison Terms President Jim Nielsen, who said the board will conduct an independent investigation, which could lead to Brown’s dismissal.

The prison terms board is the state agency responsible for deciding whether or when prisoners serving life sentences, including murderers, can be released from custody. For lesser crimes, courts determine the duration of sentences.

As legal counsel, Brown represents the board in opposing appeals from inmates, and he defends the board in lawsuits. His salary is $81,192 annually.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman John McGinness said Brown also is accused of making misdemeanor harassing telephone calls and writing angry letters to his former girlfriend, Mary Wimberly, a Sacramento school board member, in violation of a restraining order that she obtained against him. A conviction on this charge could mean up to one year in county jail.

The calls and letters apparently stemmed from the couple’s breakup in 1990, McGinness said.

“We searched his (Brown’s) home and office and found significant evidence to substantiate the claims of the woman,” he said, adding that the arrest was made Friday.

J. P. Tremblay, a spokesman for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, which oversees the Board of Prison Terms, said: “We heard about this case from the victim. She came to us. We looked into her complaints and determined there were grounds for concern.”

Nielsen, a former Republican state senator, said: “He (Brown) is on administrative leave. The board will conduct an investigation and take appropriate action. I have no other comment.”