The former Craighead County clerk who agreed less than a month ago to repay the county more than $1.4 million he is accused of stealing has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Kade Holliday, the former clerk, listed $3.8 million in debts and $1.6 million in assets, according to his Oct. 1 bankruptcy form. He has made claims of large debts being owed to Craighead County, banks, lawsuits and more.
Holliday's main assets are property including his $299,000 home in Jonesboro and a 2018 Cadillac Escalade valued at $60,000. Money is owed on both items.
He also listed several household goods and furniture including a Pappy Van Winkle bourbon collection valued at $10,000, various other liquors valued at $3,500 and six retired Lego kits valued at $2,400.
The bankruptcy documents also listed three Bach trombones valued at $6,000, a Brunswick table with accessories valued at $5,500, artwork valued at $2,000 and a surround-sound system valued at $7,500.
Holliday sold two properties in September for a total of $482,000 with the proceeds being paid to the registry of the Craighead County Circuit Court, the documents stated. He also agreed to surrender several properties to several creditors including the Edge Coffee House to First National Bank, according to bankruptcy documents.
The bankruptcy documents revealed that Holliday donated cash gifts in recent years to to the Greene County Tech band, Cross County FFA, Arkansas State University Foundation, Delta Symphony Orchestra and the Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro.
The largest cash donation was $30,000 to Arkansas State University followed by $6,500 to the Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro and $6,000 to Delta Symphony Orchestra.
The bankruptcy comes on the heels of Holliday agreeing to pay the county back for missing money.
Circuit Court Judge Richard Lusby approved on Sept. 10 an agreed-upon consent judgment between Holliday and the county. The agreement requires Holliday to pay $1,415,304 to the county, plus $35,082.99 in interest. He also will pay $21,025.74 in attorney's fees and costs.
Holliday, 31, resigned in July and was charged with 13 counts of theft of property and one count of abuse of office. He is accused of stealing about $1.6 million from Craighead County, which sued Holliday to recoup the money.
Dustin McDaniel, Holliday's attorney, said back in September the consent judgment was made in an effort to avoid wasting the county's resources on further civil litigation. He said Holliday was expected to move forward with bankruptcy procedures sometime in the future, which will stay in further state litigation.
Craighead County Judge Marvin Day said in September he was happy Lusby accepted the agreed upon consent judgment.
"This is just the first step in the procedure to collect what is owed to the people of Craighead County," he said.
McDaniel said that the parties are working together to address some of Holliday's assets to satisfy the judgment.
Holliday's job with the county included submitting payroll reports, which involved factoring in unemployment insurance, income taxes, Social Security, retirement system contributions and health and life insurance.
A probable-cause affidavit stated that Holliday began transferring thousands of dollars from the county's payroll holding account into his personal account beginning Jan. 23 and continued until June 24. To date, the amount of the transfers is $1,579,057, according to court documents.
Holliday transferred the funds from a county-owned bank account to his personal bank accounts on 12 occasions and used it for his personal benefit, the affidavit stated. The actions created a deficit to Craighead County for unpaid payroll taxes and retirement contributions, court records show.
Holliday embezzled money from the county, causing a "deficit to Craighead County for payroll taxes and retirement contributions," according to a probable cause affidavit.
Holliday, a Republican, replaced Nancy Nelms in 2012 as county clerk. He was elected when he was 24 years old.