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Gov. Kristi Noem Might Have ‘Engaged in Misconduct,’ Ethics Board Says

The board said that “appropriate action” will be taken against Noem over her alleged interference in her daughter’s quest to obtain an appraiser license.

A state ethics board investigating two complaints leveled against Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has voted to forward one of them—an allegation that she used a state-owned airplane to travel for non-state business—to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office for further investigation. Regarding the second complaint, the Government Accountability Board said it had concluded that Noem might have “engaged in misconduct” in improperly interfering in her daughter’s doomed quest to obtain a real estate appraiser license. It added that “appropriate action” would be taken against the governor, though it did not elaborate on what its chair called a “partially dismissed and partially closed” matter. The complaints were filed by Jason Ravnsborg, the former state attorney general, who told the Associated Press, “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.” Noem, who is up for reelection this year, has denied all wrongdoing.