Just like they did in Legislative District 7, Democrats have completely cleared their legislative slate in District 20.  No indication whether there will be replacement candidates yet, but it’s unusual to clear out these races by the District.

According to the Secretary of State, August 6 is the last day for candidates to withdraw nominations from general election. Once a candidate withdraws, the last day for party central committees to fill vacancies created by candidates who withdrew their nominations is August 13.

Keep watching who is coming and going – only about 2 weeks until the slate is set.

Attorney General Jackley Announces Indictments Against State Prison Inmates, Former DOC Employees

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a Minnehaha County Grand Jury Monday indicted six people regarding five different cases involving South Dakota Prison inmates and two others who were Department of Corrections staff members at that time.

“Assaults on prison staff, possession of weapons and contraband, and destruction of property in our prison will not be tolerated,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This conduct endangered prison staff and inmates and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Those are charged are:

Case One

          *** Prison Inmate Tyler Dane Larvie, 28, nine felony counts of Possession of an Article Indulgence (synthetic cannabinoids). The charges occurred on or about Jan. 24, 2024.

Case Two

          *** Inmate Tyler Dane Larvie, 28, one felony count of Criminal Solicitation, one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson, and one felony count of Aiding and Abetting Second Degree Arson.

         *** Former DOC Medication Aide Madyson Alexis Bixby, 21, Sioux Falls, one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson and one felony count of Possession of an Unauthorized Article (a cellphone delivered to an inmate).

*** Merced Patlan, 30, Sioux Falls, (not a DOC staff member) one felony count of Second Degree Arson and one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson.

             Larvie and Bixby are charged with conspiring with Patlan to destroy another person’s vehicle. The crimes occurred between Dec. 1, 2023 and Jan. 4, 2024. The actual arson occurred on Jan. 4, 2024 in Sioux Falls.

Case Three

          *** Former DOC nurse Alexis Rose Hiller, 27, Sioux Falls, charged with one felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Buprenorphine) with Intent to Distribute, one felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Buprenorphine), and one felony count of Possession of Unauthorized Article (Buprenorphine) With Intent to Deliver to An Inmate. The charges occurred on or near Jan. 31, 2024.

Case Four

          *** Prison Inmate Seth Thomas Peplinski, 24, charged with one felony count of Aggravated Assault, and one felony count of Simple Assault. He is accused of assaulting another person in the prison on May 6, 2024.

Case Five

          *** Prison Inmate Kelly Michael Irby, 64, Possession of a Weapon by an Inmate (blade). The charges occurred on or about May 8, 2024.

Initial court appearances for those charged have not yet been scheduled. All of the defendants are presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.

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Remember the Coalition of Confederates who want to push the Republican Party’s cart down the road of their agenda, and out Republican officeholders, versus electing Republicans to office?

They’re back at it, and this time – through an anonymous e-mail they’ve sent out – they’re demanding that the South Dakota Republican Party hold a summer meeting in the election year… which they’ve never done before, because there’s this thing we all went to called a convention:

From: SD_Coalition_of_Counties <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 2:41 PM
To: [email protected]… (and others – pp)
Subject: Rquest to Convene a Special Meeting of the South Dakota Republican Party Central Committee

You don’t often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important
[DISCLAIMER: This anonymous email account is being used merely for convenience purposes, as all county chairmen/chairs are equals in this matter, and not all signatories below are members of the “Coalition of Counties” at this time.]

Chairman Wiik and State Executive Board members,

In conjunction with discussion and consensus with several regional directors, we the undersigned county chairpersons/chairperson designees of the twenty-four (24) counties listed below hereby exercise our designated authority under Section I, Paragraph 7-B of the South Dakota Republican Party Bylaws in light of your prior agreement as expressed in your July 28 email response to our request to convene the State Republican Party Bylaw-required Summer Meeting and therefore now initiate the call of a necessary Special Meeting of the State Central Committee on August 24, 2024, in Oacoma, S.D. Based both on our GOP Bylaw requirement for such a meeting and given the pending pivotal issues facing the Party in the upcoming general election, the necessary purpose of this Special Meeting is to deal with pressing general election issues and other related State Central Committee matters.

Accordingly, we are herewith forwarding this call of the pending Special Meeting to Secretary Oakes in order for her to officially distribute/notice-up the same for the State Central Committee by on or before August 6, 2024, to all State Central Committee members in order to formally notify said members sufficiently in advance of such Special Meeting with the following information included in such notice of meeting:

Subject: South Dakota Republican Party State Central Committee Special Meeting;

Date: Saturday, August 24, 2024; Time: 9:30 am to 2:30 pm;
Where: Cedar Shores, Oacoma, S.D.;
Call of Special Meeting Notice: General Election information discussion & campaign strategy coordination and other related State Central Committee matters;Pizza lunch to be provided at the meeting location [committee members to provide their own for beverage(s)].

For any State Central Committee members who may want additional notification of this Special Meeting by USPS mail, if any, please advise the State Republican Party Secretary.

As called by and through the following State Central Committee county delegation members:

Chairman, Aurora County
Chairman, Bennett County
Chairman, Bon Homme County
Vice Chair, Butte County
Chairman, Campbell County
Chairman, Charles Mix County
Chairman, Corson County
Chair, Custer County
Chairman, Davison County
Chair, Deuel County
Chair, Fall River County
Chair, Hand County
Chair, Hanson County
Chair, Harding County
Chairman, Jackson County
Chair, Lincoln County
Chairman, McPherson County
Chairman, Minnehaha County
Chair, Pennington County
Chairman, Todd County
Chairman, Tripp County
Chairman, Turner County
Chairman, Yankton County
Chair, Ziebach County

Well, first off, can they call a meeting based on an anonymous e-mail? If they were “undersigned county chairpersons/chairperson designees,” wouldn’t they normally send their demand in writing?  Otherwise, anyone could send an anonymous e-mail and demand a meeting.

Secondly, what do they hope to accomplish? Several in this group have contributed towards the toxicity in the SDGOP which has crippled it’s fundraising ability.  Is their goal to try some kind of half-baked takeover?

I’m hearing through the grapevine that the SDGOP chair has already told them that he’s not going to be in attendance. So, if the officers don’t show up, how exactly do they intend to conduct business?

Beyond that, who is going to foot the bill for the meeting? I don’t recall renting the big room at Cedar Shores as being free? (Much less the pizza, understanding that committee members to provide their own for beverage(s)).  Not sure anyone on the list can incur bills for the State Republican Party.

But why do they even want a meeting for the sake of a meeting? If their goal is to ultimately stage some half-baked takeover of the party, I look at it a lot when I’m walking my overenthusiastic Corgi. She barks and yanks on the leash whenever a car goes by as I’m walking her.

What does she intend to do if I let the leash go, and she catches the car?  What happens if this group manages to take over a party that they’ve already hamstrung at this point?

The County groups certainly haven’t been honoring their quota arrangements with the SDGOP. So it’s not like they’ve been contributing and building a campaign kitty.

Many spend their time attacking or at least strongly chastising the top elected officials, such as Senators Thune and Rounds, Congressman Johnson, and Governor Noem. They’re certainly aren’t going to start sending them big fat checks. They can and will finance their own campaign operations.

The party has obligations and monthly expenses. What happens when the cash dries up? Which member of the rebel faction is going to step up and sign their name to a note like Craig Lawrence did way back when he was chair. He personally guaranteed that the SDGOP would have cash to operate until they could build things back up, which he did through the support of elected leaders. What about paying the up-front for big events? Dan Lederman fronted in the neighborhood of $60k on his credit cards for the benefit of the SDGOP during the last Sioux Falls Victory party. Who is going to do that?

If there’s some sort of half-baked coup, I’m sure everyone will move them to paying up front. And that’s money that’s not easy to come by, especially now when no one wants to donate to the SDGOP. Imagine it after that group takes over?

It’s all great and well to want to be in charge of the Republican Party. Except you have to be in charge. I’m sure Chairman Wiik would agree – It’s not winning the golden cup, it’s being the person who has the hot potato.

But, by all means, people who want to be in charge, call a meeting. And have fun with that.

After dropping all three District 7 legislative candidates, Brookings County Dems have at least one replacement to fill their void on the November ballot.

According to Facebook reports, SDSU Student Blake Stevens who appears to have spent the last decade or so in Oregon will be running against Republican incumbent candidates Roger DeGroot & Mellissa Heermann in the D7 house race.

Viewing his profile on Linked In, Stevens describes himself as:

..a returning student at SDSU majoring in Political Science. My goal is to work in politics to help improve the lives of my fellow citizens. I want to focus mainly on civil rights and rebuilding communities to make them more friendly to people. I am very well versed in communication and am a very astute researcher. I believe with my current skill set I can get any legislation I desire to be at least considered on a state level.

My next few goals are to do well in school, get in better shape (recovering from covid) and to make new friends. I haven’t been back to the Midwest in almost 8 years so its time to reach out and meet some new faces.

Well, good luck with that.

Sturgis Man Sentenced to 65 Years in Prison After Conviction on 11 Counts of Felony Crimes Involving Children

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a Sturgis man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison after earlier being convicted of 11 counts of felony crimes involving five different children.

Lance Lowell Long, 40, was sentenced Monday in Corson County Circuit Court. He had been convicted in May by a Corson County Jury of one count of Second Degree Rape, one count of Third Degree Rape, one count of Fourth Degree Rape, three counts of Aggravated Assault, and five counts of Abuse of or Cruelty to a Minor.

The defendant was sentenced to 50 years in prison on the various rape and assault charges. He also was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the various child abuse charges, which will be served consecutively with the 50-year sentence.

Long had previously served time in prison for similar child abuse crimes that occurred in Minnehaha County. The Corson County case was prosecuted after the child victims disclosed the abuse to law enforcement in Sioux Falls.

The Corson County case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.

“Our thoughts and support remain with these young victims,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This was a difficult case to investigate and prosecute, and thank you to those who worked on this case.”

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Hot off of the facebook press.. the South Central Republican Women will be hearing from Family Voice’s Norman Woods on “how to communicate with Gen Z.”

Why do I think it’s going to resemble this?

Presenter Norman Woods is also the only person to testify against a measure to establish the minimum age for marriage as 18.

Those darn kids and watching their Mtv..  Why aren’t they married off already?

There’s no amount of spin that can change the fact that President Biden and Border Czar Harris created an unprecedented disaster at the border, made possible by their own failed policies and lack of leadership. pic.twitter.com/sU2fz64YGl

— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) July 30, 2024

Gov. Noem Appoints Judges to the 2^nd Judicial Circuit Court

 PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced the appointment of Mandi Mowery, Jeff Clapper, and the Honorable Eric Johnson to the 2^nd Judicial Circuit Court.

“The Judicial branch is fundamental in establishing law, order, and justice in American society,” said Governor Noem. “Upholding the Constitution is of utmost importance for every branch of government, and this duty carries extra weight with the judiciary.  I am confident that Mandi Mowery, Jeff Clapper, and Eric Johnson will lead with excellence as 2^nd Judicial Circuit Court judges.”

Mandi Mowery grew up on her family ranch and graduated Valedictorian of her class from New Underwood High School. She obtained magna cum laude honors from the University of South Dakota and received her Juris Doctorate from Baylor Law School. In 2006, Mowery returned home to South Dakota where she joined the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Office. She began handling misdemeanor cases and eventually joined the felony prosecution division, focusing on narcotics prosecution. Mowery has been a prosecutor in the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Office for 17 years and currently serves as a Team Lead of one of the felony divisions.

“I am very grateful to Governor Noem for appointing me to the position of Circuit Court Judge and allowing me to serve my State and Community,” said Mandi Mowery. “I endeavor to serve the State of South Dakota and its people with fairness and justice; I will follow the laws as set forth by the people of South Dakota to accomplish those goals.”

In her free time, Mandi enjoys running, reading, and helping raise her two beautiful nieces. A photo of Mowery can be found here.

Jeff Clapper graduated from Creighton University in 1989 and the USD School of Law in 1993. He began his legal career in Sioux Falls at the law firm of Moore, Rasmussen, Kading & Kunstle where he engaged in criminal defense and civil litigation; he continued his involvement in civil litigation at the Boyce, Murphy, McDowell & Greenfield law firm. In 2002, Clapper became an Assistant United States Attorney, where he handled a wide range of cases including bank robberies, financial fraud, violent crime, and sexual assault in Indian Country. For the past 15 years, Clapper’s efforts have focused on prosecuting online child sex predators and sex traffickers. In 2024, he was designated as Senior Litigation Counsel for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota.

“I am extremely grateful to Governor Noem for placing her trust in me to serve the citizens of South Dakota as a judge,” Jeff Clapper remarked. “It is a serious responsibility that I will not take lightly.”

Jeff Clapper has been married to his wife, Cathi, for over 30 years. They have two adult children: Bevin and Vince. A photo of Clapper can be found here.

The Honorable Eric Johnson currently serves as the 2^nd Circuit Court Magistrate Judge and the 2^nd Circuit Veterans Treatment Court Judge. A native of Vermillion, South Dakota, Johnson attended Augustana College and graduated summa cum laude in 1996. He continued his education at the University of Nebraska College of Law, receiving high distinction. He began his legal career clerking for the Honorable Everett O. Inbody of the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Prior to accepting his current Magistrate Judge appointment, Johnson worked at the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“I am honored and humbled by my appointment to the circuit court bench and am excited to continue to serve the citizens of the Second Judicial Circuit in this new capacity,” said Eric Johnson. “I want to thank Governor Noem for the appointment. I am so grateful for the confidence she has shown in me, and I plan to do my best to make her proud of this decision.”

Eric Johnson lives in Sioux Falls with his wife, Nicole. Together, they have two children: Emma and Harper. A photo of Johnson can be found here.

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The Davison County Auditor who cited harassment and abuse as a problem that rural county auditors face as a pressing issue has herself now resigned from office to take a job in the private sector.    Back in February, Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke had written an article for the National Association of County Officials pointing out some of the issues that she has to deal with on a day to day basis:

I never know when folks will show up to try to convince our commissioners that the DS850 scanner and tabulator that we use to count ballots has a microchip in it that feeds information to Russia.

We have to dispel other misinformation. It has been alleged that CVRs (Cast Vote Records), as well as audit logs aren’t proprietary, which they currently are in South Dakota.

We’ve been accused of not being bonded properly, not being insured properly, not being transparent.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

Read the entire story here.

According to KELOland News, the crazy and the harassment has been never ending. And Susan is tapping out:

Kiepke said the claims of the 2024 June Primary being skewed are false. She added her office dealt with people on a regular basis claiming the results were wrong.

“We just had our first post-election audit in Davison County and it came out 100% accurate and we are still being told that it was done wrong,” Kiepke said.

and..

Kiepke said while her time of being employed at the county is coming to an end, she doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“The new company will allow me to continue to help at the county wherever I’m needed, so I’ll be around,” Kiepke said.

Read the entire story here.

What does it say about the state of our society when the people we hire to run our elections are doing everything right – yet they are constantly harassed and hounded out of their jobs from doing the exact thing they’ve been hired to do?

Maybe someday we’ll come back from the brink.

Thune: Democrats’ Supreme Court “Reforms” Amount to Changing the Rules in the Middle of the Game

“[I]t seems that my Democrat colleagues are resolved not to learn from history – and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the long-term stability of the Supreme Court for their own short-term political gain.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called out Democrats’ relentless attempts to politicize and undermine the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court. Thune noted that the administration’s most recent ploy would set an incredibly dangerous precedent and undermine the Supreme Court’s independence.

Thune’s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):

“Mr. President, yesterday evening, in the tradition of another Democrat president and his infamous court-packing scheme way back in 1937, President Biden announced a proposal to interfere with the Constitution’s separation of powers and permanently politicize the Supreme Court.

“He dressed it up with appeals to permanent American values.

“But what it all boiled down to, Mr. President, was this:

“Democrats don’t like some of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions.

“And so they’ve decided to change the rules of the game.

“That’s it.

“Mr. President, I’ve disagreed with more than one Supreme Court decision in my time.

“I’ve disagreed with Supreme Court justices nominated by presidents of my own party.

“But I have never thought that my not agreeing with a Supreme Court decision meant that the court itself was illegitimate – or that my party should attempt to change the law to make over the Supreme Court in our image.

“Not so for Democrats.

“The Supreme Court releases a handful of decisions Democrats don’t like, and they decide that the court is illegitimate – and that it’s time to remake the court to their liking.

“More than one Democrat has already introduced legislation in Congress to do so.

“And now, with the president’s announcement yesterday, it’s become clear that those plans have accelerated – and that if Democrats take the White House and Congress in November, we can expect them to lose no time in destroying the court as we know it.

“And while the president’s proposals are troubling enough – a measure to circumvent the Constitution’s lifetime appointments for justices and replace the Supreme Court’s own code of conduct with a code of conduct mandated by Democrat congressmembers – who knows if Democrats will stop there.

“After all, while their proposal would conveniently start by retiring Republican appointees, Democrats would only be able to retire one justice every two years.

“Who’s to say that would be fast enough for Democrats?

“We all know that court-packing – expanding the Supreme Court until you get a sufficient number of justices to endorse your policies – has gained significant traction in Democrat circles.

“Indeed, President Biden’s term-limits proposal is a version of court-packing by another name.

“And it would not surprise me at all if Democrats didn’t stop there.

“Because make no mistake, Mr. President, this is a slippery slope.

“Once you start interfering, there is no going back.

“If the Democrats implement this plan, it is easy to see a future where each subsequent administration acts to ‘return balance’ to the Supreme Court, with the result that the Supreme Court changes wildly from administration to administration, losing all independence and credibility and any resemblance to the Supreme Court as established by the Constitution.

“I’d like to remind my Democrat colleagues of what happened with the filibuster for judicial nominees here in the Senate.

“Back in 2013, Democrats – frustrated that they could not rubber-stamp all of President Obama’s appointees – abolished the filibuster for lower-court nominees.

“It turned out to be a quick step from that to abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees a few years later.

“And I’m pretty sure I’ve heard more than one of my Democrat colleagues express regret over that 2013 decision.

“But it seems that Democrats are resolved not to learn from history – and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the long-term stability of the Supreme Court for their own short-term political gain.

“Mr. President, even worse than any specific element of President Biden’s proposals yesterday is the incredibly dangerous precedent they would set for meddling in what is supposed to be a separate, independent branch of our government.

“If Democrats were really concerned about impartiality and the rule of law and promoting faith in the Supreme Court, the last thing they would be doing is interfering with the court’s makeup.

“And if there are any Democrats left in Congress who are willing to put the long-term health of our institutions over some temporary political gain, I urge them to join Republicans in opposing this power grab.

“Mr. President, I yield the floor.”

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