Kelly Arthur Anthon
Senator
Idaho State Senate
Rupert, ID
Kelly Arthur Anthon is a seventh generation Idaho native raised on a family farm in Declo, Idaho where his family has continuously operated a farming operation for over 100 years.
Senator Anthon, a licensed Idaho attorney, attended the University of Idaho’s College of Law where he was elected the College’s student body president and named the College of Law’s 2002 ‘Bistline Scholar’ by the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Until 2012, Mr. Anthon, practiced law at the Rupert law firm of ‘Robinson, Anthon & Tribe’ where as a partner he focused on municipal law, debt restructuring, and large business reorganization. Mr. Anthon previously served as the appointed City Attorney for the cities of Burley, Rupert, Acequia, and Minidoka, Idaho. At the time of his first appointment, he was the youngest appointed city attorney in the State of Idaho. Mr. Anthon stepped away from his law firm to take the position of City Administrator in Rupert, Idaho. Fluent in Japanese, Kelly also works as an event coordinator and consultant for Japanese companies.
In 2013, the Idaho Business Review and the Times News named Mr. Anthon one of Idaho’s 40 most accomplished and influential professionals under the age of 40. He currently serves as a board member with the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization (“SIEDO”), as the chair of the South Central Idaho Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, as a board member of the Mini-Cassia Economic Development Association, and as a board member of the Region IV Development Corporation. Mr. Anthon has served as an executive board member of the Idaho Municipal Attorney Association. He has also worked closely with hospitals in both Minidoka and Cassia Counties; he has served two terms as President of the Minidoka Healthcare Foundation and currently holds a seat on the governing board of the Intermountain Healthcare’s Cassia Regional Medical Center. He is a member of his local Rotary club and previously volunteered with the Idaho Department of the American Legion to operate the Gem Boys State program.
In 2014, Mr. Anthon worked on behalf of the City of Rupert with SIEDO and the Idaho Department of Commerce to successfully recruit the Frulact Group – a fruit processing company based in Portugal. The company plans on building a factory in Rupert, Idaho in the coming years; the project represents the first foreign direct investment of its kind in Idaho’s history.
In 2015, Mr. Anthon was appointed by Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter to fill a vacancy in the Idaho State Senate where he now serves on the Senate Judiciary & Rules and Education Committees. Senator Anthon was also appointed to represent the Idaho State Senate as a member of the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission.
Mr. Anthon is married to Joelle (Rogers) Anthon from Rupert, Idaho. Together the couple has five children.