South Dakota

Noem commutes sentence of man who stabbed three, killed one 43 years ago • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2024

Noem commutes sentence of man who stabbed three, killed one 43 years ago • South Dakota Searchlight

Gov. Kristi Noem has granted a commutation to a convicted murderer that will allow him a shot at parole, but not for another eight years.

Roscoe Primeaux, 63, arrived in prison Dec. 28, 1981, on a life sentence for second-degree murder and two four-year sentences for aggravated assault.

Primeaux was 19 years old in October 1981 when he stabbed three people at an early morning house party in Wagner. He first stabbed a woman who was trying to break up a fight between another woman and Rodney Provost. When the first victim sat down, Primeaux fatally stabbed Provost at least 15 times, then opened the door and stabbed a partygoer who’d been outside during the altercations.

Everyone had been drinking.

Primeaux ran away, but police found him covered in blood at a Wagner housing complex at 7 a.m., less than two hours after their arrival at the scene of the stabbings. At 9:40 a.m. that morning., his blood alcohol content measured 0.13 – higher than the 0.08 level at which people can be charged with driving under the influence under current law.

Noem grants early release to 12 convicted of felonies for drug use

He hasn’t been free since.

“I turned 20 in November in the county jail,” Primeaux said, referring to his initial detainment in 1981.

In February 2023, Primeaux appeared before the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles. While in prison, he learned to be a diesel mechanic and took culinary arts courses, he told board members.

“I don’t like to just sit around,” said Primeaux, who was denied a commutation from Gov. Dennis Daugaard in 2012.

The time that’s passed since that point without trouble behind the walls, the support Primeaux had from his family during his February 2023 commutation hearing, and the lack of opposition from the victims’ family members were among the factors that swayed the board toward recommending a commutation.

In his more than 40 years in prison, his record showed, he’d never been given a major write-up.

The board voted 8-1 to recommend a commutation reducing his life sentence to 300 years. That recommendation would’ve made him parole-eligible immediately.

“It’s been 10 years since Governor Daugaard said no,” said board member Peter Lieberman. “This time it’s been 41 years, not 31. I think he’s been punished adequately.”

Board Chair Myron Rau noted that Primeaux had support from some of the victims’ family members and has reached out several times to ask for forgiveness from others unsuccessfully.

“He’s done about all he can do to contact them,” Rau said.

The board can only recommend a commutation. Under the South Dakota Constitution, only a governor can grant clemency, either in the form of a commutation that lessens a current sentence or as a pardon, which wipes an old charge completely from a person’s record.

In Primeaux’s case, Gov. Noem made a 100-year adjustment to the recommendation from the board, leaving him with a 400-year sentence and setting his initial parole date for May 2032.

Power of mercy: Noem decisions highlight outsized importance of pardons in South Dakota

Noem signed Primeaux’s commutation on Feb. 23, just over a year after his hearing. South Dakota Searchlight obtained the commutation document through a public records request. Spokespersons for Noem’s office did not immediately return messages seeking comment on her decision.

The latest commutation puts the number she’s granted at 25. Primeaux went through the normal process: He applied to the board, got a hearing and earned a recommendation.

Just after Christmas, Noem issued 12 commutations – doubling the number she’d issued until that point – to nine women and three men held on charges of felony drug ingestion.

Noem did not respond to a request for comment about why she issued those commutations without the knowledge or review of the board, but said during her State of the State speech the following month that she’d done so to offer the women second chances.

Noem has also issued 28 pardons since the start of the year. Most of them were signed on Feb. 23, including for a man convicted of third-degree rape in 2005, another convicted of incest in 2001 and a woman convicted of aggravated assault in 2006. The remaining pardons were for lesser offenses like theft, drunken driving, disorderly conduct and marijuana or drug distribution.

Noem has issued a total of 296 pardons since taking office in 2019.

Pardons issued by Gov. Kristi Noem in January and February of 2024:

2024 Pardons -12-23 through 3-24

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South Dakota

No. 2 Texas shakes up South Dakota State, 70-51

Published

11 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

No. 2 Texas shakes up South Dakota State, 70-51

Guard Jordan Lee knocked down three triples to pace Texas with 17 points in addition to four of the team’s 13 steals, while junior forward Madison Booker notched 14 points and nine rebounds and guard Rori Harmon added 11 points and seven assists.

Texas shot 45.5 percent from the field while holding South Dakota State to 36.6 percent, outscoring the Jackrabbits in the paint by 20 points, 44-22, and from the bench, 20-13.

The Longhorns jumped out to a quick start with a 12-0 lead as Lee hit an early three and the Texas defense held South Dakota State scoreless for the majority of the opening quarter until the Jackrabbits utilized a 10-3 run and closed out the first period trailing, 17-13. Texas outscored the Jackrabbits by five in the second quarter, hitting 47.1 percent from the field to keep a 33-24 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, South Dakota State cut the Texas lead to eight, but Harmon foundBooker for an elbow jumper to keep the Longhorns ahead by 10 points. Center Kyla Oldacre held the paint down with four points and a rebound to extend the Texas lead to 49-34.

In the final period, Texas guard Bryanna Preston made tremendous effort with a strong move to the basket with a three-point play in her return from injury after missing five weeks to push the lead to 21 points. Later, Preston stole the ball and found Lee in the corner for her third three of the game to extend the Texas lead to 66-43. The Longhorns ended up shooting 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the field in the final quarter.

Next up, Texas hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday at 1 p.m. Central on SEC Network.

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South Dakota

Half of SD inmates return to prison, new report shows

Published

23 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Half of SD inmates return to prison, new report shows

Makenzie Huber
| South Dakota Searchlight

Half the people released from prison in South Dakota return within three years, according to the state Department of Corrections’ newly released 2025 annual report — the highest recidivism rate in at least the last eight years.

Among Native Americans released from prison, 59% return within three years — the highest of any race. Native Americans comprise 39% of inmates in the state prison system — 35% among men and 61% among women. The recidivism rate among Native American women is 66%.

Department officials shared the statistics and annual report with members of the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force at its Wednesday, Dec. 17 meeting in Pierre. The recidivism rate is seven points higher than last year.

The task force, made up of lawmakers, government officials and nonprofit leaders, is considering ways to reduce the state’s recidivism rate by expanding prison-based rehabilitation and helping released inmates transition back into their communities. The group was created earlier this year as lawmakers approved construction of a $650 million men’s prison in Sioux Falls, and it’s focusing on behavioral health, educational, faith-based and Native American-themed programs.

The group approved several recommendations at its meeting, including an endorsement of a faith-based seminary program.

Task force member Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, said he hopes for “transformational offerings” to inmates.

“If we don’t see lives changed, then I don’t know what we’re doing here,” Hughes said. “We’re just managing statistics and personal failures.”

‘We’re not appropriately supporting the Indigenous population’

Task force member Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, told South Dakota Searchlight the increase in recidivism, especially among Native Americans, will “further strain an already strained system.”

“It’s indicative of the fact that we’re not appropriately supporting the Indigenous population,” Wittman said. “We’re already overincarcerating Indigenous people in South Dakota, and then we’re seeing them return at a much higher rate.”

The task force approved 11 immediate recommendations for the Department of Corrections. The list includes bringing back evening volunteers in prisons, designating the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate parole program as a “flagship model” in the state, and establishing volunteer roundtables to give feedback on department policy and programs.

The recommendations are “small wins or barriers that can be removed,” Wittman said, while the task force continues to work on more complex issues.

Wittman is most excited about a recommendation that the department hire a tribal cultural liaison to coordinate ceremonies, tribal contacts and volunteer access to the state’s prisons. The position should be piloted for six months, the task force recommended.

“The fact that the DOC is willing to establish an individual whose sole focus is going to be better programming for its Indigenous population is huge,” Wittman said. “They’ll hopefully identify where Indigenous programming will be most effective.”

Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, the task force chairman, confirmed with recently appointed Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb that the department would look into the recommendations and report back which could be viable options.

New corrections secretary lauds faith-based program

The prison seminary program endorsed by the task force was created by Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain while he served as warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Cain resigned from his role in Louisiana in 2015 amid investigations of his business dealings.

The program operates in 26 states and partners with accredited, four-year Christian seminary programs to teach inmates. They can earn a seminary degree through the program, often with graduates serving as ministers in prison systems.

Lamb helped implement the program in the Illinois prison system. Within months of its launch, Lamb said, he saw fewer assaults between inmates and against staff.

“Whatever your religious beliefs are, whatever you think, this program works,” Lamb said. “It worked everywhere they tried.”

Cain spoke to lawmakers in October about the program, ahead of the task force’s first meeting in Sioux Falls. He said the state would need a nonprofit to run it. The task force voted on Wednesday to encourage South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden’s administration to authorize the program.

Rhoden said in a Dec. 17 news release that he “accepted” the recommendation. The news release did not say who would operate the program, but said it would be privately supported, requiring neither Department of Corrections nor inmate funding.

“Bringing this seminary program to our state will restore hope, build character, and strengthen our correctional system from the inside out,” Rhoden said in the news release.

Jon Ozmint, the former director of South Carolina prisons, also presented to the task force in October. He said the recidivism rate for state inmates in the faith-based seminary Cain created is around 2% in South Carolina.

Wittman said after Wednesday’s meeting that she has “reservations” about the seminary program.

“I don’t necessarily support Burl Cain-style programming in South Dakota prisons because rehabilitation needs to be voluntary, secular and grounded in evidence,” Wittman said.

Despite those concerns, she voted in favor of implementing the program.

“I voted yes because, despite my reservations, I know how limited current programs are,” Wittman said, “and something is better than nothing.”

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Dec. 20, 2025

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 20, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Dec. 20 drawing

04-05-28-52-69, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 3

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 20 drawing

08-21-30-41-47, Lucky Ball: 15

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from Dec. 20 drawing

09-12-34-45-50, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Dakota Cash numbers from Dec. 20 drawing

04-15-17-23-35

Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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