South Dakota
South Dakota regulator back on Summit case
She cited conflict in 2022 but returns without explanation
A trust controlled by a South Dakota regulator’s relatives still owns land along a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline route, but the regulator has not recused herself from the project’s second permit application in the state after recusing herself from the first one.
Two years ago, South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen disqualified herself from Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions’ first CO2 pipeline application. She cited state law prohibiting commissioners from participating in hearings or proceedings when they have a conflict of interest.
Fiegen wrote a recusal letter in February 2022 that said the pipeline “would cross land owned by my sister-in-law (my husband’s sister) and her husband.” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem assigned State Treasurer Josh Haeder to fill in for Fiegen.
In September 2023, Haeder and the other two commissioners rejected Summit’s initial application in South Dakota, citing the route’s conflicts with several county ordinances that mandate minimum distances between pipelines and existing features.
Summit reapplied in November 2024 with an adjusted route. Fiegen has not filed a recusal letter in the new application docket, and she participated in a procedural hearing about the application Dec. 17.
Fiegen did not respond to questions from South Dakota Searchlight about her participation in the new docket.
Public Utilities Commission spokesperson Leah Mohr said “ex parte” rules bar Fiegen from discussing the matter. Those rules prohibit direct communication with commissioners about dockets they’re considering. Mohr also declined to discuss the matter, and declined to discuss how conflicts of interest are defined for commissioners.
The Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether Fiegen’s participation complies with state law, or whether she sought the office’s legal advice.
Defining a conflict of interest
The chapter of state law Fiegen cited in her 2022 recusal is specific to public utilities commissioners, and it leaves conflicts of interest undefined. It says “if a commissioner determines” the commissioner has a conflict, the commissioner should file a recusal letter.
A 2016 law required the South Dakota Board of Internal Control to create a conflict-of-interest policy for use by state agencies.
The policy says officials involved in quasi-judicial actions such as reviewing a permit application must be “disinterested and free from actual bias or an unacceptable risk of actual bias” and must abstain if “a reasonably-minded person could conclude” they are not impartial.
Land owned by Fiegen’s relatives
The $9 billion Summit pipeline would span five states — including Iowa — and transport some of the CO2 captured from the production processes at 57 ethanol plants to underground injection sites in North Dakota. The project would capitalize on federal tax credits that incentivize the prevention of heat-trapping carbon emissions.
The originally proposed pipeline route in South Dakota would have crossed three parcels of land in Minnehaha County owned by Fiegen’s sister-in-law, Jean Fiegen-Ordal, and Fiegen-Ordal’s husband, Jeffrey Ordal, plus another three parcels of land in McCook County owned by the Jeffrey A. Ordal Living Trust, for which the couple serves as trustees.
Summit said it paid $175,000 in total compensation for easements and future crop damages on the land owned by the Ordals or their trust. An easement is an agreement granting access to land.
Summit said $88,000 of the money went to the Ordals. The company did not disclose further details, but public records show the Ordals completed a sale of their Minnehaha County land several months after signing the easement documents in 2022.
The new pipeline route would cross the same parcels of land: the Minnehaha County land that Fiegen’s relatives no longer own, and the McCook County land that the Ordal trust still owns.
This article first appeared in the South Dakota Searchlight.
South Dakota State returns to First Bank & Trust Arena this week to host North Dakota in the annual Play4Kay game Thursday and Kansas City on Saturday afternoon for the Jackrabbits’ National Girls & Women in Sports celebration.
The Jackrabbits are 18-6 overall and 8-2 in league play. SDSU beat St. Thomas, 84-51, last Wednesday night in the Jacks’ only contest of the week.
North Dakota is 7-18 on the season and 3-8 in Summit League action. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a split week with a loss to Omaha on Thursday and a win over Kansas City on Saturday. The Fighting Hawks are led by Mackenzie Hughes, who paces UND in scoring (11.2 PPG), assists (3.3 APG) and steals (1.2 SPG).
Kansas City is 7-17 overall and 4-7 conference play. The Roos went 0-2 last week against North Dakota State on Thursday and North Dakota on Saturday. The Roos have multiple players contributing to the leading stats. Emani Bennett is pacing UMKC in scoring (14.5 PPG). Elauni Bennett is leading the Roos in rebounding (7.2 RPG) and Tierra Trotter tops the team in assists (3.2 APG) and steals (1.4 SPG).
KEY STORYLINES
- South Dakota State enters the week with an 18-6 overall record and can reach 20 wins by the end of the week. Should the Jacks go 2-0 this week, SDSU will have reached 20 wins in 15 straight seasons and 23 times overall under AJ.
- Brooklyn Meyer enters the week with 1,846 career points (5th all time at SDSU) and is 42 points from sole possession of third place on SDSU’s career scoring chart (page six). She averages 21.5 points per game.
- Brooklyn Meyer scores 21.5 points per game (13th in NCAA) and is .637 from the floor this year (4th in NCAA). She is one of four players in the country averaging 20+ points and shooting better than 60% this year (Audi Crooks, Iowa State & Jaliya Davis, Kansas & Joyce Edwards, South Carolina).
- Maddie Mathiowetz is SDSU’s second leading scorer with 12.5 points per game and has scored 15+ points in five of the last seven games.
- Emilee Fox scores 9.4 points per conference game with 2.6 3-point makes per league contest. She is .500 from deep against Summit League opponents, which leads the conference.
- In conference games, SDSU is second in the Summit League with a .489 team field goal percentage. The Jacks have 11 players shooting better than 40% in league action. The Jacks’s .473 overall field goal percentage is 16th in the country.
- In conference games, the Jackrabbits lead the Summit League in scoring defense (55.6), 3-pointers per game (8.0), rebounds per game (39.4), rebounding margin (10.5) and assists per game (18.4).
-GoJacks.com-
South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks during a press conference Feb. 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre with Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
By: Meghan O’Brien
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill Tuesday that deregulates gun silencers by removing them from the state’s definition of a controlled weapon.
Unregistered possession of a controlled weapon is a felony, which could result in two years of prison time. That will no longer apply to silencers, also known as suppressors.
“South Dakota is the most Second Amendment-friendly state in America, and this is yet another opportunity for us to pave the way and set an example for the rest of the nation,” Rhoden said in a statement Tuesday.
Rhoden said South Dakota is the first state in the nation to remove suppressors from its list of controlled weapons.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison, who is running for the Republican nomination for the state’s lone U.S. House seat.
“Gun suppressors are hearing protection, not a weapon, and I’m glad that South Dakota will no longer be regulating them,” Crabtree said in a statement.
Republican Attorney General Marty Jackley, who is also running for the U.S. House nomination, is another supporter of the legislation. He told a Senate committee last month that regulating silencers “doesn’t promote or help public safety.”
“It’s simply extra government that doesn’t achieve any result,” Jackley said.
The bill passed through both chambers of the Legislature without any “no” votes. National opponents of silencer deregulation, including the organization Everytown for Gun Safety, say silencers make it harder for bystanders or law enforcement to identify and react quickly to gunshots.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Hall of Fame received a major gift from sculptor Dale Lamphere.
Officials announced on Tuesday that it had received the copyright to the iconic “Dignity of Earth and Sky.”
Lamphere and his wife, Jane Murphy, made the generous charitable gift.
The gift allows the Hall of Fame to protect the legacy of the recognizable artwork.
“Dignity of Earth and Sky” has become a powerful symbol of South Dakota, connected to the state’s history and culture.
The Hall of Fame will now oversee the use of the image, ensuring its integrity.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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