Monday, the day I was returning from vacation, also happened to coincide with the deadline given by the State of South Dakota for State Senator Jessica Castleberry to repay COVID relief finds totaling $603,000 that were received by her business. However, it appears that the deadline passed without an announcement of repayment, but the Attorney General did provide an update on the matter:
Monday is the deadline for state Sen. Jessica Castleberry to return $603,000 in pandemic aid to the state.
Attorney General Marty Jackley said the incident involves a significant amount of money. Because of that, he wants to review documents from Castleberry and the state.
“The Attorney General’s Office continues to receive and review documents related to this issue, and we are still awaiting documents from the State Department of Social Services,” Jackley said. “Sen. Castleberry and the State Department of Social Services have been cooperating with this office.
Read the story here, according to South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
South Dakota Searchlight did provide a few more details, including comments from Senator Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck about clarifying conflicts with the state, and indications that the Castleberry might not be the last person who finds themselves in conflict with the constitution:
“We’ve got, and I suspect you’re going to hear it in the news in the next month, more instances of people that are in transactions (with the state),” Schoenbeck said. “We have to do something for potential candidates and current legislators so that they’re not getting in trouble.
Who might those other instances be?
I would venture an educated guess that the first example might be one that I pointed out in January, where State Representative Kevin Jensen‘s name was on Grants/Contracts for his wife’s business through DSS, and no one has pursued it as of yet:
(You can go look up all those contracts here). And go read my entire story here.
With Senator Jessica Castleberry being required to repay $603,000 in funds received by her LLC, It is no less arm’s length than the funds received by the family business that State Representative Jensen serves as fiscal contact for.
And Rep. Jensen could be the next legislator who finds themselves under the spotlight for being involved with a business that receives state funds.
Socialism.
It’s not just Jensen.
Just wondering if this will also affect those operations that get government subsidies like farm subsidies, CREP/CRP subsidies, as well as Walk In Hunting money from the SD GFP and maybe some of our state employees also receive some of those subsidies as well. Just wondering. I have no names of individuals, but with the volume of money that is distributed out there for these types of programs, I would think it would fall into some ones lap that are either State Representatives/Senators and/or state employees.
Most farm subsidies are federal. The walk in program is a good example of a state program.
The boys at Dakota Scout teased that they’re working on this story. I am sure there are more to come.
Karla Lems should run for Senate. Jensen can go away as far as I’m concerned.
Jensen is insane but I guess he can still grift.
In the day of open records, we will see more of this. And that, my friends, is a VERY healthy thing. Too long in the shade. Time for sunshine.
Politicians talk about openness, transparency, anti-corruption. Then Mommy lines up for a couple hundred thou…..some legislators get more “flexible” when the money is streaming in.
Castleberry is the first ray of sunshine in a very long time.
So can Noem insurance take state funds also? I’m with Schoenbeck the law needs some clarification or no one will be able to serve.
SDMike–I don’t think many of the federal government subsidies you cite would involve conflict of interest. Crop subsidies, Crop insurance, CRP, CREP, are federal programs, the money for them is not approved by the State Legislature and the money does not funnel through the State Department of Ag. Walk in Hunting is different, it’s a State program, the tax dollars are appropriated by the Legislature and it is administered by the State of South Dakota…I’d consult an attorney, the LRC, Attorney General’s office, or a very seasoned attorney with experience in these things.