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SD Gov. Kristi Noem Doesn’t Want to Reveal Who’s Staying at State-Owned Cabin

Although Noem administration revealed visitor logs in 2019, as of January, they refuse to say who's been staying at the state-owned Valhalla cabin.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s use of a historic, state-owned cabin has raised questions as the Republican evades transparency on who has stayed there and for what purposes. Valhalla, a secluded cabin built in 1927 by former South Dakota Gov. and Sen. Peter Norbeck that has since become state property, has been a regular fixture for South Dakota governors. Over the past three years, the cabin has received $120,000 in taxpayer upgrades, but citing open records, Noem has kept private about who is visiting and if the state is reimbursed. The Department of Game, Fish and Parks denied a request last month by South Dakota News Watch to view a list of Valhalla’s visitors, saying “no such record exists as no list is maintained.” The department added, “if this information were available, it would be exempted” under open record laws. However, the department had released a list of visitors in 2019, when asked.