KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? A convicted felon has been named to Kansas City Kansas Community College’s board of trustees.

Clyde Townsend, 78, will fill a nearly two-year vacancy on the college’s governing board left by the departure of Jo Ann Huerter. The college’s board of trustees appointed Townsend on Monday.

In 1989, Townsend was convicted of taking a $5,000 kickback from a construction company when he was a Wyandotte County commissioner.

“Mistakes have been made in life,” he said Monday night. “I made a mistake.”

Townsend approved three no-bid contracts from Central Paving and Construction Inc. in exchange for the bribe. Townsend resigned his seat and served eight months of a two-year prison sentence.

Since he was released from prison, Townsend has been appointed to serve on several advisory boards.