County Treasurer Charged With Official Misconduct, Misuse Of Property/Funds

Antelope County Treasurer Sandy Knapp has been charged with official misconduct.
Charges of one count of official misconduct and one count of public official-misuse of property/funds, both misdemeanors, were filed in Antelope County by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office last week. Serving as special prosecutor is Nebraska Assistant Attorney General Laura Nigro.
Knapp was arraigned before Judge Donna Taylor Friday. Knapp is being represented by Norfolk attorney Ted Lohrberg.
Judge Taylor ordered a $4,000 personal recognizance bond for Knapp. The next hearing will be Wednesday, Jan. 7 when arguments will be heard on a motion filed by Lohrberg to quash.
The charges against Knapp stem from information uncovered by an audit performed by the county’s auditor, Morrow, Davies and Toelle, P.C. which was presented to the Antelope County Board of Supervisors in January 2014. Since then, based on the information and other information gathered by the office of Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, a complete audit of the county was conducted.
According to the report from the State Auditor’s office, real property owned by the county treasurer “in the name of Sandra and Alan Knapp, that was subject to sale due to delinquent property taxes” was not published in a newspaper for tax years 2009, 2010 and 2011 and was not included in the tax sale for any of those years. Knapp was re-elected to the office of county treasurer in November, running unopposed. She has held the position since 1995.