Category: Uncategorized

Rounds Provision to Review Foreign Ag Land Transactions Passes U.S. House

WASHINGTON – This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1713, the Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025, introduced by Representative Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), which included provisions of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act. The legislation would require the Secretary of Agriculture to review all agriculture transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS). It would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture the ability to refer cases to CFIUS for review if there is reason to believe an agriculture land transaction may raise a national security concern.

In addition to the House provisions, Rounds’ PASS Act would ban individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from purchasing agricultural land and businesses located near U.S. military installations or sensitive sites.

“I am pleased to see that the House has passed legislation that would give the Secretary of Agriculture more oversight on foreign activity in America’s agriculture industry,” said Rounds. “This will make it easier to flag any unusual activity by our foreign adversaries that could threaten the United States. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to get this same provision passed on our side of the Capitol, in addition to further provisions of banning adversaries from buying the land near our sensitive sites.”

BACKGROUND:

Rounds has been a leader on preventing foreign adversaries, namely China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, from owning land in America. Rounds first introduced the PASS Act to the Senate in August 2022 during the 117th Congress, with Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) leading companion legislation in the House. The PASS Act has received wide support throughout the state and is endorsed by the South Dakota Corn Growers Association (SDCGA), South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU), South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation (SDFBF), South Dakota Dairy Producers (SDDP), South Dakota Soybean Association (SDSA), South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSGA), R-CALF USA and South Dakota Pork Producers Council (SDPPC).

In February 2023, Rounds reintroduced the PASS Act in the 118th Congress. The Senate Armed Services passed an amendment offered by Rounds as part of their committee version of the National Defense Authorization Act which would have banned entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from purchasing farmland or agriculture businesses. Rounds reintroduced the PASS Act in the 119th Congress in March 2025.

In October 2023, Rounds introduced the Protect Our Bases Act. This legislation would have made certain the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States can review foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence and national laboratory sites by requiring member agencies to annually update and review their lists of these sites. This legislation was reintroduced in June 2025.

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Thune Joins The Hugh Hewitt Show

 “I’m hoping that not only can we get Republicans in the House and the Senate to rally behind it – but get it on the president’s desk [and] signed into law, so that the American people who voted for him and voted for this agenda can benefit from it.”

Click here or on the picture to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) joined The Hugh Hewitt Show.

Strong and Safe Corrections
By: Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko

Over the past several years, I have been proud to lead the changes within the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC). When I came into the role of Secretary, DOC was in the early stages of a much-needed course correction. We had far too few security staff in our facilities, especially the State Penitentiary. Equipment was old and worn down, training was obsolete, and the culture of the department was in shambles.

These factors added up to an unsafe environment for both correctional staff and the inmates in our prisons. A study by CGL, a national leader in corrections operations, recommended 91 updates to policies and procedures to modernize the way we operate, so I got to work to fix things. We changed policies to match industry standards, updated training methods, and launched a new recruitment campaign to get enough staff into our facilities to keep them safe.

It’s working! Things are trending in the right direction at DOC. For the first time in years, our vacancy rate for security officers has dropped down to nine vacancies statewide – it had been 152 vacancies less than two years ago. We’re hiring more officers because we’ve changed the culture of our correctional institutions.

But there are some who don’t like the changes that we’ve made. Some have particularly criticized our adoption of industry standards and best practices. For instance, they want us to use restrictive housing more often, but this does not rehabilitate; it dehumanizes and can cause psychological damage to an inmate, particularly when used for long periods of time.

When people commit crimes, they come to prison as punishment, as they should. We don’t throw shoplifters in prison for life, and we won’t throw inmates into restrictive housing or “solitary confinement” just for swearing at correctional officers. This has been part of the evolution of modern corrections, to change behavior. Those who wish for the old ways of locking them up in restrictive housing are, quite frankly, behind the times.

We’ve also been criticized for emphasizing employment for inmates on work release, rather than community service. These inmates had been earning only 25 cents an hour – now, they earn minimum wage. This policy change has been good for several reasons. Now, inmates can learn a valuable skill in an actual job rather than just picking up trash on the side of the road. We’ve avoided lawsuits for “slave labor” like other states have experienced, which is just good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. In fact, several states have amended their constitutions to clarify that slave labor of inmates is not allowed. Inmates use this money to pay restitution to victims, fines to the state, child support, and save up money so they can successfully reenter society.

And the number of inmates who have walked away from worksites has plummeted. In the last year before changing this policy, we had 41 escapes. This year we’ve only had one walkaway, the lowest in memory.

Corrections should be focused on rehabilitation, not just locking people up. I have led the department as we made the necessary changes, always focused on the safety of my team.

Some of these changes are recent, and I realize that they can be hard for those who have been involved in corrections for a long time to understand. But as we learn more about human psychology, we need to apply that knowledge to how we rehabilitate people.

Are there still challenges in our prisons? Yes, we are talking about a prison full of convicts and a State Penitentiary that’s older than the State of South Dakota. For the first time in a long time, DOC has adequate training, nationally endorsed and standardized policies, and enough employees to properly address such situations. And after years of ignoring the need for new safety equipment by former corrections secretaries, we are properly equipping our officers with everything they need to protect themselves. Today’s corrections are not the same as they were 10-15-20 years ago. It has been time for South Dakota to evolve.

I am dedicated and committed to working hard so conditions continue trending in the right direction at our state prisons. We aren’t going to let a few naysayers get in the way of our important work. Keeping South Dakotans safe – including staff and inmates – is too important.

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Kellie Wasko has served as the Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Corrections since March of 2022. She has worked in corrections for 28 years in a variety of roles, including Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Director of Prisons, Warden, Associate Warden, Health Services Administrator, and line nurse. She has been an active member of the American Correctional Association where she has served as the Chair of the Coalition of Correctional Health Authorities, Chair of the Healthcare Committee, and the current Chair of the Adult Corrections Committee. She has been a national and international presenter on topics including healthcare and mental illness in corrections, restrictive housing, and correctional leadership. She also serves on the Board of Governors for ACA and is an active board member of the Association of Women Executives in Corrections. She is a recipient of the Colorado Medal of Valor, the Colorado Medal of Merit, and the 2018 recipient of the National Correctional Healthcare Leadership award.

From text messages going out to County GOP organizations, it appears that the Doeden campaign has a legislator working hard on his campaign:

So, will Manhart’s next campaign finance form list payment for his work as a donation, or will his work on the campaign be disclosed on his statement of financial interest?

 

So, how exactly do you cut property taxes by at least 50% on owner occupied homes?

• Propose huge jumps in sales tax?
• Propose new taxes which dump the burden on others?
• Shift property tax burden onto income producing/business property?
• Encourage increase in economic development generating new tax revenue (Oops, we don’t do that here. See Summit, GEVO, and attacks on solar, wind, data centers, etc…)

This should be good.

Attorney General Jackley Announces a Sioux City, Iowa Man Found Guilty in Union County Murder

 PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces a Sioux City, Iowa man has been convicted of first-degree murder in a 2023 stabbing death in Dakota Dunes.

Alfredo Castellanos-Rosales, 41, was found guilty June 25, 2025, by a Union County jury. The verdict carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced.

Jordan “Jordy” Beardshear, 23, was found deceased at an apartment in Dakota Dunes on April 25, 2023. The defendant was later apprehended in Mexico.

“This verdict delivers justice to Jordan and her family,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This was a brutal and senseless act of violence and the jury’s decision affirms that the defendant will be held fully accountable. Thank you to the investigators, prosecutors, and witnesses who ensured that the truth was heard, and justice was served.”

The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Sioux City Police Department, South Sioux City Police Department, North Sioux City Police Department and the United States Marshall’s Service investigated the case. The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted.

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Changes Desperately Needed at the South Dakota Department of Corrections
By State Representative Tim Reisch

It’s been just over three years since Kellie Wasko took over as Secretary of the SD Department of Corrections after working in the Colorado prison system.   Since her arrival, policy and operational changes have resulted in a degradation of staff and inmate safety systemwide. Recently she named a county jail administrator from a small county in New Mexico as the new warden of the state penitentiary. Joseph Roemmich is the fourth person in as many years to occupy the position that has seemingly become a revolving door since Wasko’s arrival.

Less than two years following her appointment by then-Governor Kristi Noem, penitentiary employees penned a letter to the governor asking for Wasko’s removal citing changes she made to the disciplinary process that threatened staff safety and that her introduction of “out of cell time” led to an increase in the presence of contraband among inmates. Although Noem elected to stick with Wasko, the complaints voiced in the letter have proven to be accurate based on events that have occurred over the past several months, including:

• February 4, 2025:  Jameson Prison Annex on lock-down.  Over the previous couple weeks, a prison staff member was assaulted while inmates were in line picking up their meds, and a 22-year-old inmate committed suicide.
• February 25, 2025:  I met with Governor Rhoden, Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen and staff and shared my concerns that the policy changes instituted by Wasko have made it dangerous for staff to maintain order. Inconsistent and reduced disciplinary sanctions for inmate misbehavior have emboldened some, threatening staff safety.
• March 31, 2025:  A female correctional officer was assaulted the previous weekend on the hill. She got a broken nose and had to get stiches in her face.  There was also an inmate fight involving about 30 inmates in the D pod at Jameson.  Multiple inmates were shanked.
• May 7, 2025:  A senior correctional employee was punched in the face several times at Mike Durfee State Prison.  Both East Hall (on the hill) and Jameson in Sioux Falls were locked down.
• May 15, 2025:  An inmate found dead in his cell at the old penitentiary (possibly drug related).
• May 18, 2025: Another inmate was found dead in his cell at Jameson (possibly drug related).
• May 27, 2025:  A major gang fight occurred at Jameson with weapons.  Five inmates received stab wounds, three of which were hospitalized. The Attorney General suspects it was gang related.
• June 11, 2025:  Another inmate death at the old penitentiary (assumed to be drug overdose).
• June 20, 2025:  Inmate found dead at Jameson of an apparent suicide.

In addition to the policy changes cited above, Secretary Wasco made another significant shift in prison philosophy involving minimum-custody inmates working in the community.  The community service program was initiated by Governor Bill Janklow in the 1990s.  Inmate crews supervised by journeyman electricians wired the state’s 176 school districts to provide internet access for pennies on the dollar.  After that task was complete, inmate crews were trained to install new rubber membrane roofs on public buildings while other crews ground the old mortar joints out of, and re-tuckpointed brick-faced buildings all across the state.  Simultaneously, scores of other inmates were assigned to work for state agencies, cities, counties and nonprofit organizations.  For many years, an inmate crew was assigned to the South Dakota State Fair doing all sorts of tasks in preparation for the fair as well as removing the tons of trash that accumulated during fair week.

With one stroke of the pen, Secretary Wasko killed the program by raising what the DOC charged the organizations that employed the inmates over $10 an hour instead of the 25 cents an hour that had been the standard for decades.  That decision made the employment of hundreds of inmates who performed so many meaningful jobs across the state unaffordable for the nonprofit organizations and local governments that had previously benefitted from the program.  On a typical day during the program’s existence, maybe a dozen inmates out of the 200+ inmates at the Sioux Falls minimum custody unit would be lying on their beds throughout the day. Several weeks ago, when I toured the penitentiary complex, only 9 inmates out of the 230 assigned there that day had jobs in the community.  The rest of them were sitting around watching TV, playing video games or sleeping.  What a terrible way to prepare offenders for their release back into society.  Governor Janklow used to say that when inmates are required to get up and work every day like the rest of society, they become accustomed to that routine for when they get released.  But if they’re allowed to lay around idle all day while in prison, that will be their expectation when they’re released as well.

The rate at which inmates released from South Dakota prisons are having their parole revoked is alarming.  One reason is that they’re simply unprepared to rejoin society.  They’ve been allowed to sit around all day and wait for their next meal to be served.

Before the taxpayers of South Dakota are asked to pay a billion dollars to modernize our prison system we need to make changes to its current mismanagement.

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Tim Reisch served as Secretary of Corrections longer than anyone in the history of the SD Department of Corrections.  He was appointed Deputy Secretary of Corrections by Governor Bill Janklow, and served as the Cabinet Secretary in the Rounds, Daugaard and Noem administrations.  He is a member of the SD House of Representatives serving District 8.  He serves on Governor Rhoden’s Prison Reset Task Force as well as the Legislative Summer Study on Incarceration and Reentry.

President Trump Announces Appointments to the Homeland Security Advisory Council

President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Noem appointed new members to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) and announced the date of the council’s first meeting.

Formed on March 19, 2002, the HSAC leverages the experience, expertise, and national and global connections of its membership to provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with real-time, real-world and independent advice on homeland security operations.

This new-look, America First HSAC will draw upon a deep well of public and private sector experience from homeland security experts committed to fulfilling President Trump’s agenda.

The Homeland Security Advisory Council will hold its first meeting at DHS headquarters in Washington, D.C. on July 2nd, 2025.

Appointed Members:

• • Henry McMaster, Governor, South Carolina, Chair
  • Joseph Gruters, State Senator, Florida, Vice Chair
  • Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
  • David Chesnoff, Attorney, Chesnoff and Schonfeld.
  • Christopher “Chris” Cox, Founder, Bikers for Trump
  • Mark Dannels, Cochise County Sheriff, Arizona
  • Richard “Bo” Dietl, CEO and Founder, Beau Dietl & Associates
  • Matthew Flynn, Attorney, Steptoe. Former Deputy Assistant to the President. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
  • Rudolph W. Giuliani, Former Mayor, New York City
  • Harvey C. Jewett IV, Retired President of Super 8 Motels Inc., Retired President and Chief Operating Officer, Rivett Group LLC., President Great Plains Education Foundation, Inc.
  • Steve Kirby, Founding Partner, Bluestem Capital Company
  • Mark Levin, Broadcast News Analyst, The Mark Levin Show
  • Corey Lewandowski, Chief Advisor to the Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
  • Nicholas Luna, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Implementation, The White House
  • George Lund, CEO and Chairman, Torch Hill Investment Partners
  • Edward McMullen Jr, Senior Policy Advisor, Adams and Reese LLP. Former Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein,
  • Georgette Mosbacher, Co-Chair, Three Seas Programming, Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, Former Ambassador to Poland
  • James “Jim” Pallotta, Managing Partner and Founder, The Raptor Group.
  • Omar Qudrat, CEO, Maden, Founder, Muslim Coalition for America, Major, U.S. Army Reserve
  • Stephen Sloan, Global Head of Private Market Secondaries, Portfolio Advisors and Co-Founder, Cogent Partners
  • Robert “Bob” Smith, Former U.S. Senator, New Hampshire
  • Alexei Woltornist, Co-Founder and President, ATHOS. Former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Homeland Security

To learn more about the Homeland Security Advisory Council, including its previous taskings, reports, and recommendations, visit DHS.gov/Homeland-Security-Advisory-Council.

Senator Casey Crabtree: No Sanctuary in South Dakota

MADISON–Growing up in Arlington, South Dakota, we kept our keys in our pickups and the doors to our house were always open. Parents let their kids ride their bikes around town until the 6 o’clock whistle told us it was time to come home. We felt safe and secure.  We trusted that everyone in our community looked out for one another and they had your back if tough times arrived. The same can’t be said today throughout the United States. Folks deserve to feel safe and secure, but that is hard to do after millions of criminals entered the United States illegally under the Biden Administration.

The recent chaos in the streets of Los Angeles and their liberal leaders, particularly Gavin Newsom and LA’s Mayor, doubling-down on protecting violent criminals once again highlighted the stark differences between California and South Dakota–criminals over citizens, chaos over order, and political theater over meaningful discussions. I’m grateful to call South Dakota home because we value law enforcement and public safety. I’m proud to be counted among our leaders here in South Dakota to side with our citizens and not the criminal illegal immigrants.

On July 1, South Dakota’s Sanctuary City Ban will take effect to enshrine our status as a state that will not harbor violent criminals who are in our country illegally. I was proud to be the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 7 this past year and turn this policy idea into law. SB 7 was so important to ensuring safer communities in South Dakota that it was the first bill that Gov. Rhoden signed into law as the new governor. It passed the legislature with overwhelming support and only Democrat opposition.

The policy in SB 7 helps support President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Noem’s agenda to protect our homeland. South Dakota voters helped elect a leader to secure the southern border including an end to the flow of meth and fentanyl that is tearing South Dakota families apart, and the president is fulfilling that promise. President Trump needs the support of states and cities to remove criminals who pose a danger to their communities, and SB 7 was the answer for South Dakota. Local law enforcement have been supportive of the President’s efforts so far this year. There were eight ICE arrests a few weeks ago, and 26 criminals arrested for other crimes have seen ICE detention holds at the Minnehaha and Pennington county jails.

This new law is straightforward: it blocks counties, cities, the state or state agencies from enforcing sanctuary policies and protects police officers who refuse to follow a sanctuary policy that is illegally adopted by South Dakota local governments. Since SB 7 was signed into law, five other states have followed suit with a sanctuary city ban.

My message for criminals in South Dakota illegally is simple–don’t wait for July 1, leave the United States now. You will not find sanctuary in South Dakota if you are a criminal here illegally, and thanks to President Trump, Secretary Noem and this new law, our communities will be strong, safe and secure.

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Ban on Sanctuary Cities Will Take Effect

PIERRE, S.D. –  On July 1^st, the ban on sanctuary cities in South Dakota, SB 7,  will take effect. This was the first bill Governor Larry Rhoden signed after taking office as Governor.

“We must do everything we can to keep our people safe, including removing criminal illegal aliens from this country. Signing SB 7 was an important step in keeping South Dakota strong, safe, and free,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are making tremendous strides to keep our nation secure. We will continue to do all we can to support their efforts.”

The bill also provides protections for law enforcement officers carrying out immigration enforcement actions.

You can find video footage of Governor Rhoden signing SB 7 here. You can find a picture of Governor Rhoden signing SB 7 here.

Governor Rhoden continues to take decisive action to keep our state strong, safe, and free. He recently visited our South Dakota National Guard troops at the Southern Border, who are working with the Trump Administration, Secretary Noem, and Border Patrol to protect our nation.

Following that trip, the Governor announced that the South Dakota Highway Patrol obtained a Memorandum of Agreement to assist in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) actions to keep America safe.

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