The Attorney General's Office was largely silent through election season on Jerome Block Jr.'s misuse of public campaign funds, but Attorney General Gary King said he is looking into whether to pursue criminal charges against the incoming public regulation commissioner.

After weeks of his spokesman's declining to say whether King is investigating Block's spending, the attorney general said in an interview Tuesday that his investigators have been gathering documents and talking with people "who might have useful information." "I don't think we're at the conclusion of the case," he said. "I think there are issues that are worth considering that we haven't decided what to do with yet."

King's office served as legal counsel for the Secretary of State's Office, which levied $21,700 in civil fines against Block, but that doesn't necessarily mean criminal charges are inevitable. "We have people asking, 'Why aren't you pursuing a case against Jerome Block?' " he said. "Well, most people probably perceive pursuing a case as going to court."

As an example of where the probe is headed, King said, investigators will look into the circumstances surrounding the $2,500 Block gave to the San Miguel County clerk's band, even though the band never performed. Block had repeatedly insisted to reporters the band did play, before admitting he lied.

King said his office could talk to band members "we know never played," he said. Questions for them might include, "Did you ever have a discussion about playing? Did you have it on your calendar and take it off?"

Block, 31, takes office on New Year's Day, but King said that isn't a concern. "We'll proceed with dispatch, but I don't think that Jan. 1 is a deadline for us," he said.

The attorney general said he found nothing wrong with his office liaison, Cordy Medina, receiving $350 from Block for helping with his campaign mailings before the spring primary, even though Block paid her in the summer with his general-election funds.

According to King's campaign finance records from his 2006 run for attorney general, which used private funds, he paid Medina nearly $29,000 for media-relations services. "I told everyone in the office they could still be active in politics if they wanted to be," King said of Medina's helping Block. "I don't think there was anything wrong there."

He added, "She certainly wouldn't be involved in the loop of anything we're looking at now."

As for his own political aspirations, King hasn't ruled out running for governor in 2010, when his term as attorney general ends. King ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1998 and 2002. His father, Bruce King, was a three-term governor.

"I'm keeping my options open," the attorney general said. "I really like being attorney general. It would really take a lot to keep me from running for re-election as attorney general.

"I'd love to be the governor. I'm not shy about that," he added, "but there are lots of other considerations in running for governor other than just wanting to be it."

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a fellow Democrat, has been preparing to run for governor and is expected to take the post in January if Gov. Bill Richardson joins President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet.

"I anticipate she'll do a great job," King said.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.