The former Pilger Village Clerk—once hailed as a hero in the aftermath of twin tornadoes that leveled the town in 2014— has been arrested and is facing several counts of theft some dating back to 2006.
Kimberly Neiman, who was fired last February, has been front and center in a state audit involving the “mishandling” of more than 700-thousand dollars.
The audit followed an exclusive investigation by News Channel Nebraska that detailed tens of thousands of dollars in questionable spending and an unknown number of missing village emails.
Neiman is facing seven counts of theft and three counts of abuse of public records.
If convicted on all counts she is facing more than 120 years in prison.
According to the state audit, there were 156-thousand dollars in suspicious charges made on the village’s credit card along with 560-thousand dollars in questionable transactions.
In the audit Neiman acknowledged “careless, negligent, abusive, improper, or unauthorized use of the village’s property, equipment or funds.”
Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger tells NCN that Neiman was booked on 50-thousand dollars bond and has been released after posting 10 percent or five thousand dollars.
Unger says she was arrested without incident at her home in Pilger on Wednesday and did not make any statements.
Neiman was village clerk for 20 years.
During that time, she received numerous awards including Nebraska’s Outstanding Public Administrator of the Year in 2015 and Outstanding Village Clerk in 2007.
She is due in court March 10th.
