The owner of the parent company of Casper radio stations including KHOC, KICK, KMLD and KQLT owes nearly $90,000 to two companies providing music programs, according to two lawsuits recently filed in Natrona County District Court.

Jan Charles Gray of Mount Rushmore Broadcasting signed contracts from SESAC in April 2004, and from Atlas Media-Russ Albums Wax Museum in July 2007, according to the lawsuits filed on Feb. 3.

Gray owed SESAC, based in Nashville, Tenn., more than $67,000 as of April 1, 2008, according to the complaint filed by that company's attorney Larry Harrington of Casper. There has been further interest and more late fee charges since then, according to the complaint.

He also owes $20,400 to Atlas Media, based in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., according to the complaint filed by that company's attorney Spar Stormo of Casper.

Both attorneys declined to comment.

Attempts to reach Gray were unsuccessful. He also hasn't filed a response with the court to the lawsuits.

The two cases mark the latest legal action against Mount Rushmore Broadcasting Inc.

In December, the Federal Communications Commission announced it intended to fine the company $20,000 for not maintaining its Emergency Alert System and violating other rules at its stations KRAL-AM and KIQZ in Rawlins. If the company and the FCC are not able to come to an agreement about the "notice of apparent liability," the FCC will issue a formal forfeiture order.

The FCC also issued forfeiture orders against Mount Rushmore Broadcasting stations in 1998 and 2002 totaling $17,000, according to FCC records. In these cases, the Wyoming U.S. Attorney had to sue Mount Rushmore Broadcasting in federal court to recover the fines, according to U.S. District Court records.

Besides FCC violations, Mount Rushmore Broadcasting and some of its stations have been the targets of federal civil lawsuits filed by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) accusing them of playing music without paying for the right to do so.

Court records suggest those legal actions were settled before reaching trial.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at tom.morton@trib.com.