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South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem might have “engaged in misconduct” when she stepped in to help her daughter get a real estate appraiser license, a state ethics board said Monday — though it wasn’t immediately clear what, if any, action would be taken against the staunch conservative.
The Government Accountability Board also referred a separate complaint over Noem’s use of a state airplane to South Dakota’s interim attorney general for investigation.
The board’s action stems from two complaints brought last year by former state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg – who was impeached and removed from office after fatally striking a pedestrian while driving in 2020.
“Knowing what I know as the complainant, Gov. Noem should be fully investigated for her abuse of power in getting her daughter an appraiser license, and Gov. Noem should be prosecuted for her criminal use of state resources for personal gain,” Ravnsborg said in a statement.
The Associated Press reported last year that Noem had called a meeting with her daughter, the state labor secretary and the then-director of the state’s Appraiser Certification Program in 2020 after the agency moved to deny Noem’s daughter’s license application.
