SD Labor Sec Says Decision To Give Gov’s Daughter Second Try At Certification Already Made Before Controversial Meeting

      South Dakota Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman says state officials had decided to give Gov. Kristi Noem’s daughter another chance to earn a state real estate appraiser license even before a controversial meeting in the governor’s mansion last year.

      The meeting, which came just days after Kassidy Peters had been denied a license, included Peters, Noem, Hultman, and the head of the licensing agency among others. 

      Hultman acknowledged Thursday to a legislative committee investigating the July 27, 2020, meeting that it was unusual to have an applicant like the governor’s daughter in such a meeting, but she defended her department’s handling of the situation.

      Peters received a license a few weeks after the meeting while the agency head retired, then sued the state – saying she’d been forced to retire. The state settled her suit for $200,000.