A South Dakota ethics board has moved to hire an outside attorney as it considers a pair of ethics complaints against Gov. Kristi Noem
By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
2 May 2022, 17:29
• 3 min read
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A South Dakota ethics board on Monday moved to hire an outside attorney as it considers a pair of ethics complaints against Gov. Kristi Noem, delaying its decision on whether to investigate allegations the governor interfered in a state agency evaluating her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license and misused state airplanes.
After meeting for roughly an hour in a closed-door executive session, the retired judges who sit on the Government Accountability Board decided they needed legal advice, but that it shouldn’t come from the lawyer who usually advises the board because she works in the attorney general’s office. That lawyer, Katie Mallery, has been recused from legal matters in the complaints.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who is a Republican like Noem, initiated the complaints after media reports on Noem’s actions in office. The board’s decision Monday was a procedural move as it approaches a key juncture for the complaints.
The board requested in February that Noem respond to the complaints and will eventually decide whether they should dismiss or investigate them.
“We have not yet made an initial determination, and so we’re going to consult with an attorney about that,” said the board’s chair Lori Wilbur, a retired Supreme Court justice.
The board’s consideration of the complaints has stretched since last year and happened entirely in private meetings. Democratic Rep. Linda Duba, who was at Monday’s meeting, expressed frustration at the laws governing the board, which was created in 2017 but has never handled high-profile allegations against the state’s top official.
“For a law that was passed that was supposed to provide transparency, we’re in the…
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