County Treasurer Appears In Court; Case Under Advisement

The Antelope County treasurer appeared in court on two misdemeanor charges Wednesday afternoon.

County treasurer Sandra Knapp, 59, of Neligh appeared with her attorney Ted Lohrberg on the defendant's motion to quash in Antelope County Court. 

She faces charges of official misconduct, a Class II misdemeanor; and public official-misuse of property/funds, a Class III misdemeanor. The charges were filed by the Nebraska Attorney General's office. 

Assistant Attorney General Laura Nigro has been appointed special prosecutor, and Judge Alan Brodbeck is presiding over the case. He was appointed to the case on Dec. 31.

Nigro alleged that Knapp was delinquent on her own personal property taxes in tax years 2009, 2010 and 2011, and the property was subject to be listed in the annual tax sales, but was not. The special prosecutor called a witness to testify to these claims, Deann Haeffner, assistant deputy from the state auditor's office. Haeffner confirmed the allegations, but also said all of these taxes had since been paid, with interest.

Lohrberg said he filed the motion to quash due to a "defect" on the complaint. He said the complaint against Knapp, which was filed on Dec. 11, 2014, stated that the alleged offenses occurred between May 1, 2010 and Jan. 28, 2014. Lohrberg claims the alleged crimes are outside the 18-month statute of limitations.

Nigro argued that the alleged crimes were "continuing offenses," and Knapp had "a continuing duty to collect these taxes." She said the defendant benefitted financially by not collecting these property taxes. 

Judge Brodbeck said he will take the motion under advisement and granted the prosecutor 2 weeks to file a brief. The defense attorney will have 7 days to reply thereafter.

Knapp has served as the Antelope County treasurer since 1995 and was reelected to the office in the November 2014 election.

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