South Dakota
Lawmakers decline to endorse Noem-backed state library funding cut, school safety grant program • South Dakota Searchlight
Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s education priorities continue to face setbacks in the Legislature, including proposals to cut funding for the South Dakota State Library and to put $10 million toward school safety grants.
The House Education Committee voted Wednesday to move the two proposals to the legislative budget committee with “do not pass” recommendations.
It’s a battle over priorities in a tight budget year, said Yankton Republican Rep. Mike Stevens.
The same committee last week shot down a Governor’s Office-supported education savings account bill, which would have used $4 million in public funds to pay for a portion of private, online or homeschool instruction costs. Republican leaders plan to advance related legislation.
South Dakota State Library
Noem had proposed cutting the State Library’s funding by about $1 million. The cut would lay off about a dozen employees and jeopardize programming and services local libraries depend on, several librarians told lawmakers at the Capitol in Pierre.
The Department of Education introduced a bill that would change the duties of the State Library to align expectations with Noem’s proposed budget cut.
Were it endorsed by lawmakers, the cut itself would be embedded in the state’s general appropriations bill, which is passed at the end of the legislative session.
State Library budget cut would hamstring local libraries, opponents say
Education Secretary Joseph Graves told lawmakers that key services would still be available if the funding cut were to take effect. That would include statewide training and technical assistance to libraries, Braille and talking book services for people who are blind and hard of hearing, and assistance with literacy programming and organization.
Opponents told lawmakers they doubted such services would be feasible without continued funding. Librarians said they were concerned about losing statewide interlibrary loan services, shared database access and other services. Representatives of local governments said they worried they’d shoulder the financial burden to cover such services.
The committee voted unanimously to move the bill on to the legislative budget committee with a “do not pass” recommendation.
Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Amber Arlint added that she was worried cutting state funds for the library would mean replicating programs and costs elsewhere in the state.
“We all serve the same taxpayers,” Arlint said. “So to cut services to balance our state budget just to pass them onto a different set of taxes is absolutely absurd to me.”
School safety grant funding
Lawmakers on the committee also voted 11-4 against endorsing Noem’s proposed $10 million grant program for school security upgrades.
Scott Rechtenbaugh, criminal justice service director with the state Department of Public Safety, said that although roughly 200 schools have completed safety assessments with the department’s School Safety Center since 2020, many don’t have funding to make recommended upgrades.
That jeopardizes student safety as school shootings continue nationwide and school safety threats increase in the state, he said. Rechtenbaugh reminded lawmakers of the 2015 Harrisburg High School shooting and a 2024 school threat in Winner. No one was killed in either event.
The grant would let the department distribute $2 million annually for surveillance cameras, panic buttons, doors and locks, fencing, gates, barriers and other security measures.
“I know there’s a lot of debate on, ‘Can we afford this?’” Rechtenbaugh said. “But my question is, ‘Can we afford not to?’”
The state Department of Education and the South Dakota Police Chiefs’ Association supported the bill. Dianna Miller, a lobbyist for the Large School Group, was the sole opponent.
“I hope, I pray our budget and sales tax will increase and we do the things necessary to get through this year, and then maybe the program would be ripe for it,” Miller said. “But the fact of the matter is that right now is not the time.”
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PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Attorney General Marty Jackley made an announcement on Friday, congratulating the 24 students graduating from the state Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course.
“Telecommunicators are the first voice that people hear when they call 9-1-1,” said Attorney General Jackley.
The course features training and practical exercises covering topics like public safety telecommunications, responding to caller inquiries, managing both emergency and non-emergency service calls, and prioritizing multiple incidents occurring simultaneously.
Instructors for the course are staff from the state DCI Office of Law Enforcement Training and experienced 911 telecommunicators from across the state, as well as public safety stakeholders.
Members of the 77th session of the Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course and their law enforcement organization include:
- Rebecca Alexander, Central South Dakota Communications
- Kimberly Andrades-Zamora, Metro Communications
- Chaundra Barron, Metro Communications
- Dylan Bartram, Central South Dakota Communications
- Hannah Bates, Moody County Sheriff’s Office
- Amber Benway, Clay Area Emergency Communications
- Chloe DePew, Pennington County Emergency Services Communication Center
- Janita Holt-Yellow, Fall River County Sheriff’s Office
- Kayleene Holzer, Brown County Communications
- Maria Homola, Meade County Sheriff’s Office
- Izabel Johnson, Spearfish Police Department
- Jason Kraft, Spink County Sheriff’s Office
- Chel Larsen, Charles Mix County Sheriff’s Office
- Julie Lightbourn, Miner County Sheriff’s Office
- Kortni Nester, Metro Communications
- Amanda Perez, Mobridge Police Department
- Asa Pettigrew, Brown County Communications
- Cheyenne Pullman, Meade County Sheriff’s Office
- Camilla Searby, Rosebud Police Department
- Ethan Shelsta, Watertown Police Department
- Haylee Waldrop, Pennington County Emergency Services Communication Center
- Hunter West, Metro Communications
- John Yeary, Winner Police Department
- Jamie Zimmerman, Metro Communications
Copyright 2025 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine M. Kern made an announcement on Wednesday that she will be retiring from the bench on Dec. 8, 2025.
Justice Kern was appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2014 by Governor Dennis Daugaard to represent the First Supreme Court District, which includes Custer, Lawrence, Meade, and Pennington counties.
“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,” said Justice Kern.
“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,” said Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen.
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, Justice Kern received a Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University in 1982 and her juris doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1985.
She later worked in a variety of roles with the Attorney General’s office, such as the appellate division, drug prosecution unit, and as director of the litigation division.
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 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,” said Governor Rhoden.
Copyright 2025 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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