NRAD board president charged with misusing information in land deal
Lee Stubbs
Citizen Editor
Northland Regional Ambulance (NRAD) District Board of Directors President Kevin Rawlings was charged last week with misusing public information that authorities say helped him net $144,000 in a land transaction last spring between himself and the district.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said Rawlings was charged by Platte County prosecutors on Feb. 1, the day after The Citizen’s weekly deadline, following an investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. Zahnd’s office alleges that Rawlings, 40, of Dearborn, purchased land in an area where he knew the ambulance district was planning to build a new station.
Court documents show Rawlings bought the land for $130,000 and later resold a portion of the land to the ambulance district for $175,000. According to court documents, an appraiser valued the land Rawlings sold to the ambulance district at just $30,600.
When contacted by The Citizen last week, Rawlings said he did not believe he had done anything wrong and had no other comment. As reported in an earlier story, Rawlings did not file for re-election this spring to his director’s position.
NRAD Executive Director Tom Taylor — who in the same Citizen report announced his resignation/retirement from the district, effective in June — also had no comment when contacted by The Citizen.
According to court documents, Rawlings was elected to the NRAD Board of Directors in April 2006. As early as 2008, authorities allege Rawlings knew that NRAD planned to build a new station in the area of U Highway and the Camden Point exit of Interstate 29.
In April 2010, Rawlings purchased approximately 34 acres in that area — zoned for agricultural use — for a total of $130,000. During a Sept. 20, 2010 board meeting, Rawlings allegedly directed Taylor to begin searching for available property in the same area. In October 2010, the NRAD board voted to begin negotiations to purchase two acres of the land owned by Rawlings. The board directed an appraisal of the land to be completed; however, court documents indicate that no appraisal was ever completed.
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