More details revealed in Rhodes road probe in Arizona

KINGMAN, Ariz. — More details surfaced Tuesday in an investigation of alleged road building improprieties at Jim Rhodes’ Kingman Farms agricultural enterprise in northwest Arizona.

Steve Auld, an investigator with the Mohave County attorney’s office, said problems were discovered during a site visit where the former Las Vegas home builder is farming on his property at Red Lake, about 20 miles north of Kingman.

Auld said investigators discovered a Kingman Farms tractor operator was building a water controlling berm structure on BLM land Tuesday. The unidentified operator said he was directed to do so by Kingman Farms management.

Auld said the operator was not cited and that any possible sanction will be contemplated by the BLM.

Auld confirmed that the county and the federal Bureau of Land Management are investigating whether a service road for the farming venture, more than 5 miles in length, transgresses public land.

He said another focus of the investigation is whether section monument markers have been illegally disturbed during road building activity for Kingman Farms.

Rhodes’ attorney and spokesman Chris Stephens did not respond to repeated inquiries.