Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, court records show.
The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia comes 14 months after Kenerly was indicted on charges related to bribery and influencing votes on rezonings while he was a commissioner. When he stepped down Nov. 16, 2010, Kenerly was the longest-serving commissioner on the board, having held his seat for 16 years.
Kenerly reported assets of less than $50,000 and debts of about $3.5 million. He could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
The debts listed on his bankruptcy filing include $1.6 million on a Chateau Elan mansion in Braselton and $5,722 for unpaid condo association dues at a Myrtle Beach vacation home.
Kenerly's house in Chateau Elan is custom designed with nine bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, and is currently listed for sale for $2.8 million. The house is nestled on the sixth hole of the Legends Championship Golf Course in a gated resort community.
Kenerly also has outstanding balances on three vehicles all purchased in 2009: $8,292 for an Acura RDX, $35,414 for a GMC Yukon, $23,811 for a Ford F-150.
Atlanta bankruptcy attorney Scott Riddle said that Chapter 11 bankruptcy is used for individuals with a high net worth and a lot of assets, because Chapter 13 bankruptcy has debt limits. Individuals who file on the first Monday of the month, as Kenerly did, are usually trying to avoid having their home foreclosed upon on the second Tuesday of the month, Riddle said.
It was not clear Monday if that was the reason Kenerly filed for bankruptcy.
Kenerly was slapped with criminal charges at the culmination of a 10-month-long investigation conducted by the special purpose grand jury impaneled to look into the county's suspicious park land purchases. The investigation also resulted in the resignation of Commission Chairman Charles Bannister.
The probe began after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a series of stories questioning some of the deals.
The special grand jury found that Gwinnett County commissioners overpaid millions of dollars for some parcels of land in deals that used taxpayer money to benefit commissioners' allies.
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