Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may have “engaged in misconduct” to obtain a state real estate appraiser’s license for her daughter, who had failed to qualify for one on her own, leading an ethics panel to suggest “appropriate action” against the governor, the Associated Press reports.  The panel also asked for a probe into Noem’s use of state-owned jets to fly to Republican campaign events around the country.

Noem had intervened for her daughter Kassidy Peters, who did not demonstrate enough industry knowledge and expertise to pass muster with the South Dakota licensing board.  Peters’s application included sample appraisals that the board determined lacked the detail and professionalism required by state standards.

Days later, Noem summoned Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman, who oversees the licensing board, and Sherry Bren, the lifelong civil servant who runs the appraiser licensing system, to her office, where she berated the pair.  Also attending the meeting:  Kassidy Peterson, who had no official government position or reason to attend a meeting with a state Cabinet secretary.

Four months later, after Kassidy had somehow secured her license, Noem demanded through Hultman that Bren, who was 70 years old at the time of the 2019 meeting, submit her resignation because, Hultman told her, she was too old to deal with the issues facing the industry.  Bren filed a $200,000 age discrimination lawsuit against Hultman and the department.  The outcome of the lawsuit is unknown.

The ethics panel, comprised of three retired judges from the South Dakota judicial system, unanimously concurred that the state attorney general should conduct a civil proceeding in which Noem, who denies any wrongdoing, could defend herself against the allegation.

The cases were first referred to Republican then-Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg through complaints, but he refused to take action.  Ravnsborg was later impeached and removed from office for killing a man in a traffic accident he failed to report.