Lawmakers approve subpoenas for DOR leaders amid fake titles investigation

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – As the investigation continues into a fake title scheme within the South Dakota Department of Revenue, leaders within the department will soon be on the receiving end of a subpoena to testify before state lawmakers.

The Legislature’s Executive Board on Tuesday approved the request from the Government Operations and Audit Committee (GOAC) to subpoena Department of Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and Department of Motor Vehicle Director Rosa Yaeger.

A two-day GOAC hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12 in Pierre.

The subpoena request followed a GOAC hearing last week where members of the oversight committee sought answers about changes and security measures the department is implementing after multiple investigations uncovered schemes with fake titles allegedly involving three former employees. That hearing went into executive session, where DOR leaders refused to provide more details, citing pending criminal litigation.

“Essentially, we need to be able to have a legislative investigation occur at the same time as the judicial branch is doing its functions also,” Sen. David Wheeler (R-Huron), a GOAC member, testified on Tuesday. “We have a session coming up in January. We need to know what, if any, corrective actions the Legislature needs to take. And it’s difficult to do that when we can’t get firsthand knowledge about what happened, why it happened, and what have they done to remedy it.”

Executive Board Chair Sen. Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown) echoed that sentiment, saying that a state law dealing with trial publicity only applies to the attorneys involved, which in this case, applies to the Attorney General.

“It would be a dangerous precedent to allow the rules of ethics that apply to an attorneys interfere with the legislative process in almost any respect, other than the attorneys that are involved in some litigation. It binds them,” said Schoenbeck. “But you would never want the Legislature to be in a situation where they couldn’t have a hearing on a bill or an issue.”

Any further testimony from DOR leaders in December is likely to come behind closed doors in executive session.

The two-day hearing will begin with questions for the Department of Revenue on Dec. 11. GOAC will also continue its probe into the Department of Social Services, following an investigation that alleges a former DSS stole $1.8 million from the state.

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