The Secretary of State’s office has proposed adopting printers that will produce ballots on demand in local precincts after changes in South Dakota law to make sure that the proper ballot is given to voters when they go to vote with the combination of school and municipal races with the primary and general election races.

According to a story on KELOland news:

Brown County Auditor Lynn Heupel said the change would be beneficial for both voters and election workers.

“With the ballot on demand, what would happen is they pull that voter up and select that voter, it would automatically print their ballot for them so there wouldn’t be any possible confusion of picking the wrong ballot for the voter,” Heupel told KELOLAND News Tuesday.

and..

In 2025, the legislature passed a law that requires districts to combine municipal and school board elections with either the primary or general election.

Read the entire story here.

The changes in South Dakota Law have made a challenging situation for elections officials at the school, municipal, and county levels even more difficult with the addition of more races in counties. School district boundaries and city maps don’t always match up with county lines. And breaking it down even further are different ballots needed for Independents, Republicans and Democrats within the June primary. Oh! And throw precinct level races here and there.

You’re talking about dozens or more of different ballots needed in one election in one county.  What elderly precinct worker is going to be able to figure out which ballot they’re going to need?  As opposed to hitting a button, and printing out the ballot with the correct races.

It’s not new technology, they use it in multiple states right now. But due to the additional complexity we’ve added to the ballot and the burden we’ve placed on election staff, it’s practically a necessity now.

In case you’d forgotten about my story on Toby Doeden’s PAC getting into the TIF election in Rapid City, after he had received his own TIF in Aberdeen, the Rapid City Journal has quite a large article on it today:

Proponents of the Destination District TIF point to what they consider a contradiction in the Doeden-connected PAC joining the “no” vote fray: In 2023, the Aberdeen City Council approved a Tax Increment Financing district for a housing project by a Doeden-owned business in the Brown County city.

and..

“You can’t, on one hand, use the thing that you’re condemning and then profit off of it. It’s just two-faced. You’re talking out of both ends of your mouth,” Jordan Mason, a “yes” campaign proponent and former Rapid City Council member, told the Journal. “It’s hypocritical.”

and..

The Doeden campaign staffer told the Journal, “Mr. Doeden is entirely open to the idea of new development projects to diversify and grow the economy. These decisions should be left to the local community to decide.” They added after follow-up questions, “He is no longer affiliated with the organization.”

Go read the entire article here.

So, Toby is open to projects “to grow the economy” that he’s making money on? But no one else?

Got it.

Thune: Republicans’ Focus on Appropriations Delivers Results

“[L]et’s get fiscal year 2026 funding done and keep up the progress as we begin the process for fiscal year 2027.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor: 

Click here to watch the video.

Attorney General Jackley Announces Aberdeen Man Indicted on 85 Criminal Counts When Committed as a State Employee

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces an Aberdeen man has now been indicted on 85 total felony and misdemeanor counts that include Solicitation of Second Degree Rape, Possession of Child Pornography, Dissemination of Image or Recording – Victim Seventeen Years of Age or Under, and Unlawful Use of a Computer System while he was a former employee of the State Driver Licensing Office in Aberdeen.

Mark Rathbun, 68, was re-indicted Wednesday by a Brown County Grand Jury. The new indictment supersedes a November indictment when the defendant had been indicted on three felony counts of Solicitation of Second-Degree Rape, Possession of Child Pornography, and Unlawful Use of a Computer System. He faces a combined maximum sentence of 395 years in either prison or the county jail if convicted on all the charges.

“The additional charges are a result of our continuing investigation, and we have now identified approximately 50 alleged victims,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We continue to review images found on his electronic devices and will reach out to potential victims for notification.”

Attorney General Jackley said images of confidential driver’s licensing information were found on Rathbun’s personal devices.

The investigation and prosecution are being conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

The defendant’s next court appearance on the superseding indictment will be scheduled soon.  He is presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.

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From a press release issued today, former State Legislator Dan Kaiser of Aberdeen has announced that he is running for Brown County Sheriff:

Aberdeen, SD — With more than two decades of dedicated service in law enforcement, military leadership, and public service, today Dan Kaiser announced his commitment to serve as Brown County Sheriff, bringing a proven record of leadership, accountability, and community-focused policing.

Currently serving on the administrative team at the Aberdeen Police Department, Dan Kaiser oversees officer hiring and mentoring, development, manages critical investigations involving crimes against children, and departmental policy development to ensure compliance, clarity, and professionalism.
His work emphasizes protecting the most vulnerable while strengthening public trust through transparency and effective operations.

In addition to his law enforcement career, Dan Kaiser brings valuable legislative and policy experience from his service as a South Dakota State Representative, where he served on the Judiciary, Transportation, Education, and Taxation Committees. This experience provides him with a strong understanding of the legal framework governing public safety agencies and the importance of interagency cooperation.

Read the entire press release here.

Jackley Breaks Another Fundraising Record in Q4

Pierre: Today, Attorney General Marty Jackley announced his campaign committee raised over $500,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Jackley has now raised over $1 million in the first six months of his campaign- a record for a South Dakota Congressional race primary. Over 90% of Jackley’s contributions are from individual South Dakotans.

“I am humbled by the continued outpouring of support our campaign has received,” said Jackley. “We are off to a record-breaking start, but we won’t take anything for granted and will keep working hard to earn the vote of South Dakotans.”

Jackley continues to build strong momentum and is the clear favorite in the race for Congress. A recent independent poll sponsored by South Dakota News Watch showed Attorney General Marty Jackley with a massive 52 point lead. Jackley leads his closest opponent 57% to 5%.

Jackley’s full campaign finance report will be filed by the FEC deadline of January 31, 2026.

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Deadwood Didn’t Build South Dakota Gaming Just to Hand It to Washington
By George Milos

South Dakota’s gaming industry was built by South Dakotans—by the voters who approved it, by the regulators who oversee it, and by the local communities who rely on it. For decades, our state has set the gold standard for responsible gaming because we’ve insisted on one thing above all else: local control.

That tradition goes back long before modern casinos. Deadwood has been South Dakota’s gaming capital since the frontier era, a place where miners, card players, and risk-takers shaped a culture rooted in fairness and accountability. When South Dakotans voted in 1988 to bring gaming back to Deadwood, they did so with intention, reviving both the town’s historic spirit and a vital economic engine for our entire state.

Since then, our gaming system has operated under strict state-regulated rules that protect consumers and support our communities. South Dakota’s casinos generate jobs, drive tourism, and deliver millions in tax revenue that funds schools, infrastructure upgrades, addiction services, and historic preservation. Every wager placed inside our borders strengthens South Dakota.

Washington is now trying to rewrite the rules. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has begun approving online prediction market platforms that allow people to bet on everything from sports to elections, claiming these wagers are “financial contracts.” That’s just language designed to confuse us. What they are offering is gambling by another name. And gambling regulation has always been, and must remain, the responsibility of the states, not federal agencies.

This federal overreach directly undermines South Dakota sovereignty. Prediction market companies operating under CFTC permission don’t answer to the South Dakota Gaming Commission, don’t follow our consumer protection standards, and, critically, don’t contribute a single dollar in state gaming taxes. That means lost revenue for our schools, our roads, our public safety programs, and our historic communities like Deadwood. While South Dakota businesses play by the rules, these offshore-like platforms get a free pass from federal regulators who have no stake in our state’s future.

The CFTC was created to regulate commodities like wheat, corn, and cattle—not to backdoor federal control over gambling. By enabling unregulated prediction markets, the agency is stepping far outside its lane and creating a black-market alternative that competes with our lawful, heavily regulated, locally accountable gaming industry.

South Dakotans chose a careful, responsible path when we legalized sports wagering in 2020. We built a system that reflects our values and protects our people. If changes are needed, those decisions should be made in Pierre, not in Washington boardrooms of unelected bureaucrats who know nothing about our state.

The Deadwood Gaming Association urges federal regulators to respect state control, honor South Dakota’s long-standing approach to responsible gaming, and put an end to this dangerous overreach. Our gaming heritage, and the communities that depend on it, deserve nothing less.

South Dakota built this industry. We will continue to protect it.

—

George Milos is the executive director of the Deadwood Gaming Association

Attorney General Jackley Announces AG Bills Officially Filed

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that the 10 legislative bills he will propose in this year’s session have now been officially filed by the state Legislative Research Council.

The bills are Senate Bill 17 and Senate Bills 41-49.

“My legislative package focuses on many issues this office has dealt with in the past year,” said Attorney General Jackley. “I have had conversations with many lawmakers already on these bills. I look forward to working with the Governor and legislators during the session on these important opportunities to protect South Dakota.”

The bills are:

SB 17: Prohibit a candidate or political committee from accepting contributions or loans made by a foreign national, to provide a penalty therefor, and to declare an emergency.

SB 41: Revise a provision related to criminal invasions of privacy, prohibit the creation and distribution of digitally fabricated material of an identifiable individual, and provide penalties therefor.

SB 42: Enhance the penalties for ingestion, possession, possession with intent to deliver, and delivery of a controlled substance in a state correctional facility.

SB 43: Address search and seizure provisions applicable to digital currency.

SB 44: Establish investigative subpoena authority to gather business records in certain investigations.

SB 45: Revise a provision regulating delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, THC-O acetate, and hexahydrocannabinol for persons under the age of twenty-one and to provide a penalty therefor.

SB 46: Modify the requirements for open meeting agendas and provide a penalty therefor.

SB 47: Revise the requirements for executive sessions and closed meetings.

SB 48: Clarify that an official open meeting agenda must be posted online at least seventy-two hours before the scheduled start of the meeting.

SB 49: Safeguard the integrity, privacy, and security of genetic data and provide a civil penalty therefor.

The 2026 Legislature begins Tuesday.

The AG’s bills can be found here: https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bills/71

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Flags at Half-Staff at State Capitol in Honor of Harvey Krautschun

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol from sunrise until sunset on Friday, January 9, 2026, in honor of former state legislator Harvey Krautschun. He served in the South Dakota State House of Representatives from 1985 to 1996, and he was Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1996.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm CT/1:00 pm MT on Friday, January 9, 2026, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Spearfish, SD.

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Thune: Republicans Lead Nationwide Effort to Strengthen Rural Health Care

“Republicans will continue to work to make health care more affordable and accessible for American families.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:

Click here to watch the video.