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Steve Arnold is bankrupt. So is his company.

The Guilford County commissioner has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, unable to pay debts that swamped him and his land-development company, Arcon.

Filings show debt for both Arnold and Arcon at more than $12 million; assets are listed at about $250,000.

So, those 20 or so creditors seeking to be repaid by Arnold? They might not be.

"My guess is that there will be little or nothing available out of either case for any of those creditors," said Trip Adams, his attorney.

The bankruptcy filings came about two months after a Superior Court judge ordered Arnold arrested and jailed for not cooperating with a creditor in a civil dispute. Arnold says he doesn't owe anything to the company, Elkes Development, but agreed to turn over the information Elkes had sought. The judge dropped the order.

Arnold announced outside a commissioners meeting Sept. 6 that he was considering giving up his seat, openly wondering whether his financial misfortunes were affecting his performance. On Friday, he said he hadn't made a decision on resigning.

"I've had a lot of people express support, and they have been understanding of my losses," said Arnold, a Republican who is the board's senior member. "This kind of thing happens sometimes when you take risks in a volatile market."

Other indications of Arnold's financial troubles are available in the filings for himself and his company that show debt that dwarfs his assets.

Most of the assets are in land he owns in High Point and Avery County.

His personal filing shows $12,380 in personal property that included appliances, furniture and other belongings.

But his liabilities are considerably greater. Most of the debt is for Brightwood Farm, the eastern Guilford County subdivision he borrowed money to help build. The county had been in deep drought as he broke ground on the project in October 2002, but then the heavy rain hit, he said.

The rough weather "didn't stop for a year and a half," so "we were grading streets three different times." He noted that there were other problems.

In the end, he said, "instead of having some product ready in six or nine months, it was a year and a half or a year and three quarters."

Now, Arcon is out of business. And Arnold, as its president and sole shareholder, has fallen on tough times, too.

"There's virtually nothing left in Arcon by the way of any meaningful assets or equipment," Adams said. Chapter 7 provides for a liquidation of the debtor's assets to creditors; Arnold is declaring much of his property exempt.

Arnold disputes money owed to some creditors, including Elkes. When David B. Puryear Jr., an attorney for Elkes, was asked whether he was hopeful that Elkes would get the money it says Arnold owes, he said, "I'm always hopeful."

"But obviously whenever a business announces that it's bankrupt, that's not good news for any of its creditors."

Contact Nate DeGraff at 373-7024 or ndegraff@news-record.com