The South Dakota Legislature’s Government and Audit Committee has unanimously approved a report that found Governor Kristi Noem’s daughter got preferential treatment while trying for a real estate appraiser license in 2020.
The committee approval came on a voice vote in Pierre without discussion on it.
The findings of the legislative probe repudiated Noem’s insistence that her daughter, Kassidy Peters, did receive special treatment. The report doesn’t address whether Noem did anything wrong.
The probe was the result of The Associated Press retiring Noem had called a meeting that included Peters and key decision-makers in the agency evaluating her license application just days after the agency had moved to deny the license.
Peters was given another opportunity to demonstrate she could meet federal standards and she received her license four months later. The report says she should have been made to wait the required 6 months to reapply.
Shortly after Peters received her license in late 2020, licensing bureau head Sherry Bren was pressured to retire. She did, but filed manage discrimination complain and eventually received a $200,000 settlement from the state.
The South Dakota House earlier this year rejected a resolution from some of Noem’s fellow Republicans criticizing her actions in the case and the independent Government Accountability Board is currently considering a complaint against Noem for the incident.