County settles with former commisioner

Friday, July 12, 2002

TRENTON -- Hitchcock County and the former commissioner it accused of misusing county equipment have reached a compromise and settlement.

County commissioners voted during a regular meeting July 1 to settle the case with former District 1 commissioner Francis Friehe of Culbertson. Friehe will pay $6,250, and both parties will pay their own attorney fees. Court records indicate charges against Friehe have been dismissed, and cannot be refiled.

The board and Friehe entered into the settlement agreement, both stipulating it was a compromise and not an admission of liability on the part of either party.

Friehe's attorney, J. Bryant Brooks of McCook, said this morning Friehe agreed to the settlement because it appeared legal costs would exceed the cost of a settlement. "It made no financial sense," Brooks said. "to insist on fighting it out in court."

Commissioners Dale Keeney and Scott McDonald voted for the settlement. Commissioner Rich Hampton, who is running for the District 1 commissioner seat against Friehe in the fall election, abstained from voting.

In the civil suit filed by Hitchcock County in April, the county alleged Friehe used county equipment and equipment operators to build private roads and complete dirt work without paying the county's customary rental rates, while he was commissioner between Jan. 5, 1995, and Jan. 6, 1999.

Much of the work was alleged to have been done after hours, when rental rates double. Court records indicated Friehe would have owed the county $14,039, and that he paid $831.

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