Category: Uncategorized

South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine M. Kern Announces Retirement 

PIERRE, S.D.—South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine M. Kern has announced that she will retire from the bench on Dec. 8, 2025.

Justice Kern was appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2014 by Gov. Dennis Daugaard to represent the First Supreme Court District, which includes Custer, Lawrence, Meade and Pennington counties. She previously served as circuit court judge for 18 years. Justice Kern’s father, retired circuit court judge Paul J. Kern, administered her oath of office as a justice, circuit court judge and attorney.

“It is with a heart brimming with gratitude for the trust and confidence placed in me, which gave me the opportunity to serve the people of this great state, that I notify you of my retirement on December 8, 2025, nearly twenty-nine years to the day of my investiture as a circuit court judge,” Justice Kern said. “It has been a deep honor and privilege to serve.”

“Justice Kern has always had an unwavering commitment to justice, the integrity of the courts, and a deep compassion for the people we serve.  Her passion for law and for people has impacted all of us and made the court system better,” Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen said. “Personally, the members of the Court will truly miss Justice Kern as she has been a wonderful friend and colleague to each of us. We wish her all the best as she moves on to her life’s next chapter in December.”

Justice Kern was appointed a circuit court judge in 1996 in the Seventh Judicial Circuit comprised of Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties. Before serving as a judge, she worked in the Attorney General’s office from 1985 to 1996 in a variety of capacities including the appellate division, drug prosecution unit and as director of the litigation division. Justice Kern received a bachelor of science degree from Arizona State University in 1982 and her juris doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1985.

Justice Kern is a member of the American Law Institute, the State Bar Association, the Pennington County Bar Association, the American Bar Association Fellows and past president of the South Dakota Judges Association. She served on the Council of Juvenile Services from 2004 to 2013 and on the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice from 2004 and 2008, as well as on numerous other boards and commissions.

“Justice Kern has made a lasting impression on the legal profession,” said Gov. Larry Rhoden. “She has been an incredible lawyer, prosecutor and judge for 28 years. I work with several young attorneys who look up to her as a role model, so her steady hand on the court will be missed. As I review potential appointments to replace her on the bench, I will be hopeful that we can find a future Supreme Court judge of her caliber.”

The Supreme Court is comprised of five justices appointed by the governor from a list of two or more people nominated by the Judicial Qualifications Commission. Justices must be licensed to practice law in South Dakota and voting residents of the district from which they are appointed at the time they take office.

View Justice Kern’s photo.

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About South Dakota Courts: The Unified Judicial System (UJS) consists of the Supreme Court, Circuit Courts and State Court Administrator’s Office. The Supreme Court is the state’s highest court and final decision maker on South Dakota law. The Circuit Courts are the state’s trial courts where criminal proceedings and civil litigation are handled. The State Court Administrator’s Office provides centralized administrative assistance and support services for the South Dakota judiciary. Learn more at https://ujs.sd.gov. 

What a difference a couple of weeks make.  The Mayor of Mitchell had released a letter at the end of May asking the Prison Task force to consider his community for the site of a new men’s prison:

The proposal is still in early stages, but when asked Hanson what he wants to see, both from the state and from his own community as the proposal moves forward.

“If the state is very serious about our location, I want to talk about it seriously, because I don’t want to get the community of Mitchell divided about a possible prison that there’s no serious possibility of coming to our town,” said Hanson.

and..

As a final thought on the matter for the day, Hanson wanted to share his opinion that Mitchell is likely one of the best locations for this project, or for any other large facility.

Read that here.

And now.. on second thought, now can’t run from it quickly enough:

On the heels of the Davison County Sheriff coming out against the facility in the area, Mitchell’s Mayor Jordan Hanson, who once lobbied for the prison, is now firmly against it.

and..

Looking back, I recognize I was too focused on the potential economic benefits, and not focused enough on the emotional, social, and long-term financial impact this project could have on the families who make Mitchell the town it is today.

and..

So today, I am making my position clear: effective immediately, I do not and will not support this proposed prison project in the Mitchell Community.

Read that here.

Glad to see nothing ever changes in politics.

Are we up to 3 billion in projected costs on the project yet?

The SDGOP filed it’s June 2025 FEC Report a little early this month. No reason not to, as it appears the financials are pretty simple to do when you’re unable to raise anything, except a donation from the treasurer who probably didn’t want to see the party completely skunked this month.

SDGOP_June2025FECReport by Pat Powers on Scribd

You can’t help but ask yourself, how does the South Dakota Republican Party – the state’s largest political organization –  only manage to have a single donation in a month? Seriously?

Especially when it appears to be a pity donation from the State Party’s treasurer.

That’s correct. State GOP Treasurer Sen. Tina Mulally was the lone donor with a $700 check. Plus they earned $4.25 interest on the remaining balance in their account which seems to be inexorably decreasing as funds drip – drip – drip out on the inevitable expenditures.

$704.25 raised. $3904.71 spent. and $36,644.41 remaining in the bank for the federal account at the moment.

So, so bad. It’s really painful to see at this point.  You really have to ask why the GOP can only raise a $700 pity donation from the treasurer when we have over 320,000 registered Republicans in South Dakota?

At some point you have to consider that the problem is the populists now in charge of the party, and not the people who put R on the voter registration card.

What’s the phrase?  A man reaps what he sows. And the cultivation doesn’t seem to be going so well nowadays.

From Facebook, Senator Dave Wheeler is now officially Judge David Wheeler, as he was joined by friends and colleagues in Brookings today for his swearing in:

Congratulations!

WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: June 2-8, 2025
by US Senator Mike Rounds

We are back in session in Washington D.C. after a week working back in South Dakota. I was fortunate to spend the week of Memorial Day at events in Watertown, Brookings, Vermillion and Huron. In Huron, I spoke at a ceremony to dedicate the United States Postal Service (USPS) office as the First Lieutenant Thomas Michael Martin Post Office Building. You can read more about that event here. Now, we’re back in D.C. meeting with constituents and taking votes on the newest members of President Trump’s administration. We are also working on the reconciliation package in order to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. More on my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota groups I met with: South Dakota members of Doctors for America; South Dakota Growth Energy; South Dakota members of the McKesson Corporation; South Dakota Realtors; the South Dakota Trucking Association; Jeff Kippley, Vice President of the National Farmers Union; the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association; Blue Star Families; and a group of South Dakota Legislators and Landowners.

South Dakota towns represented: Aberdeen, Aurora, Brookings, Canton, Custer, Dell Rapids, Gary, Huron, Kyle, Leola, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Union Center and Watertown.

Other meetings: Christopher Fox, nominee for Inspector General of the Intelligence Community; Darrel Hackett, President of BMO Harris Bank; Mark Dimondstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union; Joseph Aoun, President of Northeastern University; Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN; Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union; Jack Dever, nominee for General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East; and Gerald Goodfellow, CEO of the Small Business Consulting Corporation.

I spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Capital Markets Summit and the Special Competitive Studies Project’s AI Expo. I also attended our weekly Senate Bible Study, where our verse of the week was Philippians 4:8, and our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, where Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas was our speaker.

Hearings: I attended two hearings this past week: one closed hearing in the Select Committee on Intelligence and one in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Classified briefings: I attended one classified briefing this past week.

Votes taken: 15 – all on nominees for members of President Trump’s administration. I voted to confirm all of these nominees.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Bison and Fort Pierre.

Steps taken: 53,845 steps or 25.21 miles.

Video of the week: I joined Fox Business on Friday morning to discuss the Senate’s work on the reconciliation bill:

Lincoln County Commissioner Doug Putnam seems to be in full “offend everyone” mode, as he defends his use of an anti-semitic slur of “jewing someone down,” by claiming that he’s somehow ok because no Jew has ever complained to his face about him being a neanderthal ass, and claims the people offended by his remarks must be LGBTQ sympathizers.

As noted in the Dakota Scout Story:

Lincoln County Commissioner Doug Putnam refused to apologize this week after being publicly confronted for making a remark widely considered antisemitic during a recent commission meeting.

“Evidently, I said something wrong, and I’m supposed to apologize, which I won’t,” said the first-term GOP commissioner, addressing blowback he’s received for saying “I thought you’d Jew them down” two weeks ago during a discussion on a lease contract. 

and..

After the meeting, Putnam suggested that those offended by his remarks are aligned with the LGBTQ movement and that most don’t take offense.

Read the entire story here.

Whaaaaat?

I’m not sure how low some politicians can go, but you’d have to think we’re getting close to the bottom of the barrel. And then we’re amazed all over again.

Putnam is the District 4 Lincoln County Commissioner, with the Lincoln County Commission website noting that his term of office is up on December 31, 2028.

I notice that it has his contact information if anyone was so inclined to educate him.   Not that I think education is his strong point.

New candidates have arrived, and others have departed since we last looked at the races for statewide office from top to bottom. And, it is time for a long overdue update of the “SDWC Tale of the Tape” for a rundown of rumor, conjecture and who you can expect might actually be running on the Republican side of the ticket in South Dakota for the 2026 election.

Johnson’s Landmark Digital Assets Legislation Passes Committee

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act passed the House Agriculture Committee by a vote of 47-6 to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States.

U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Agriculture subcommittee on digital assets, introduced this legislation in May along with Committee on Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-PA), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), Committee on Financial Services Chairman French Hill (R-AR), and Financial Services subcommittee on digital assets Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI).

“Over the next few years, blockchain technology will transform most every industry,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately, regulatory uncertainty has pushed innovation and investment overseas. Our bill creates clear rules of the road, ensuring America will power the future of blockchain and digital assets.”

Click here or the image above for Johnson’s remarks in last week’s Agriculture Committee hearing.

The CLARITY Act is also cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN), Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).

Click here for the text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.

Click here for a section-by-section.

Click here for a one-pager.

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NEW NFIB SURVEY: Small Business Optimism Increases in May
Taxes are now small business owners’ single most important problem

PIERRE, SD (June 10, 2025) – The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased by three points in May to 98.8, slightly above the 51-year average of 98. Expected business conditions and sales expectations contributed the most to the rise in the index. The Uncertainty Index rose two points from April to 94. Eighteen percent of small business owners reported taxes as their single most important problem, up two points from April and ranking as the top problem. The last time taxes were ranked as the top single most important problem was in December 2020.

“Although optimism recovered slightly in May, uncertainty is still high among small business owners,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While the economy will continue to stumble along until the major sources of uncertainty are resolved, owners reported more positive expectations on business conditions and sales growth.”

“South Dakota’s small businesses are experiencing a slight boost in optimism, particularly regarding sales expectations,” said NFIB South Dakota State Director Jason Glodt. “Yet, the concern over labor quality and taxes continues to affect the overall outlook. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and Pierre must prioritize small business solutions, like making the Small Business Tax Deduction permanent, to bolster Main Street and allow our communities to grow and thrive.”

Key findings include:

• A net 1% (seasonally adjusted) of owners viewed current inventory stocks as “too low” in May, up 7 points from April and the highest reading since August 2022. This was the largest monthly increase in the survey’s history.
• The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions rose 10 points from April to a net 25% (seasonally adjusted).
• The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose 11 points from April to a net 10% (seasonally adjusted). This component contributed the most to the Optimism Index’s improvement.
• Twenty-two percent (seasonally adjusted) plan capital outlays in the next six months, up four points from April and the highest reading of this year.
• The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as the single most important problem for business fell three points from April to 16%.
• Fourteen percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, unchanged from April.
• When asked to rate the overall health of their business, 14% reported excellent (up one point), and 55% reported good (down one point). Twenty-eight percent reported the health of their business was fair (up one point) and 4% reported poor (unchanged).

As reported in NFIB’s monthly jobs report, a seasonally adjusted 34% of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in May, unchanged from April. Of the 55% of owners hiring or trying to hire in May, 86% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. A seasonally adjusted net 12% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down one point from April.

Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners rose one point in May to 9%.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 26% reported raising compensation, down seven points from April. A seasonally adjusted net 20% plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up three points from April.

Fifty-six percent of owners reported capital outlays in the last six months, down two points from April and the lowest reading of this year.

Of those making expenditures, 40% reported spending on new equipment, 26% acquired vehicles, and 15% improved or expanded facilities. Ten percent spent money on new fixtures and furniture and 5% acquired new buildings or land for expansion.

In May, the percent of small business owners reporting poor sales as their top business problem remained at 9% for the fifth consecutive month. A net negative 13% of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reported higher nominal sales in the past three months, down five points from April.

The net percent of owners reporting inventory gains was unchanged from April at a net negative 5%, seasonally adjusted. Not seasonally adjusted, 14% reported increases in stocks and 16% reported reductions. A net 1% (seasonally adjusted) of owners viewed current inventory stocks as “too low” in May, up seven points from April and the highest reading since August 2022.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 31% plan price hikes in May, up three points from April. The net percent of owners raising average selling prices was unchanged from April at a net 25%, seasonally adjusted. Unadjusted, 10% of owners reported lower average selling prices and 38% reported higher average prices.

The frequency of reports of positive profit trends was a net negative 26% (seasonally adjusted) in May, five points worse than in April. Among owners reporting lower profits, 36% blamed weaker sales, 13% cited the rise in the cost of materials, 11% cited usual seasonal change, and 8% cited labor costs. For owners reporting higher profits, 52% credited sales volumes, 27% cited usual seasonal change, and 8% cited higher selling prices.

Five percent of owners reported that financing and interest rates were their top business problem in May, up two points from April. Twenty-five percent of all owners reported borrowing on a regular basis, down one point from April. A net 4% reported their last loan was harder to get than in previous attempts, down one point from April. A net 7% reported paying a higher rate on their most recent loan, up one point from April.

Ten percent (seasonally adjusted) of owners reported that it is a good time to expand their business, up one point from April. Despite the increase, this remains a low reading historically.

Eighteen percent of small business owners reported taxes as their single most important problem, up two points from April and ranking as the top problem. The last time taxes were ranked as the top single most important problem was in December 2020, when it tied for first with labor quality. The percent of small business owners reporting government regulations and red tape as their single most important problem remained at 9%. Four percent reported competition from large businesses as their single most important problem, down three points from April.

The NFIB Research Center has collected Small Business Economic Trends data with quarterly surveys since the fourth quarter of 1973 and monthly surveys since 1986. Survey respondents are randomly drawn from NFIB’s membership. The report is released on the second Tuesday of each month. This survey was conducted in May 2025.

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

(One of Brandei’s Constituents sent this over.)

It looks like the all-important landlord endorsement is in from State Representative Brandei Schaefbauer, as she endorses the man she pays rent to for Governor:

Of course, don’t forget, she also has a tendency to represent his interests in the legislature as well:

In case you forgot about that one, you can review it here.