John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight

SIOUX FALLS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz regaled about a thousand people at a South Dakota Democratic Party fundraiser Saturday night with jabs at the state’s former and current governors, advice for winning back rural voters and blue collar workers, and pride in liberal ideals.

The 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee — who was on the losing ticket with presidential nominee Kamala Harris — delivered the keynote speech to a sellout crowd at the 2025 McGovern Day dinner at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. Reporters were allowed into the event, but not to take photographs once it started.

It didn’t take long for Walz to criticize the actions of U.S. Homeland Security secretary and Republican former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

“If you had to pick somebody who’s the antithesis of the South Dakota I know, it would be that,” he said.

The two served in Congress, cosponsoring bills together before 2018, when each was elected to lead their respective states.

Their relationship soured during the COVID-19 pandemic when they took divergent approaches, and further deteriorated when Noem described Walz as a “radical” in her role as a Trump surrogate during last year’s presidential campaign.

Walz, speaking of his preparation to appear in South Dakota, said “I had to decide what I was going to wear.”

“When you’re a governor and you’re in South Dakota, do you dress as a fireman? You dress as a cowgirl?” he said.

The joke was a dig at Noem. She donned firefighting gear at a U.S. Coast Guard training facility, for example, and wore a cowboy hat for an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I know it’s petty, but some people just bring out the petty,” Walz said.

Advice for SD Democrats

He laid out his connections to South Dakota once the laughter died down. He grew up nearby in Nebraska. He hunted pheasants in Winner, saw drive-in movies in Lake Andes and “spent too much time” at a bar called the Longbranch in Burke.

Walz also prodded current South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, who recently signed a bill that will allow the concealed carry of pistols on college campuses by gun owners with enhanced permits. Walz described that as one of the Republican talking points about South Dakota being “the freest state in the nation.”

“I think some of you may have a difference of opinion in that. I ran into an OB-GYN that says that’s not true,” Walz said, referencing South Dakota’s near-total abortion ban.

Walz told Democrats that Republicans who paint them as “elites” are cutting taxes for the wealthy and reducing support for student aid programs and Medicaid while “tearing apart” rural communities and mass-detaining undocumented immigrants.

“Is our immigration system broken? Yes. But our moral system sure as hell should not be with throwing people in camps,” he said, a reference to a detention center for migrants in the Florida Everglades that President Trump calls “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“The people building prison camps are never the good guys in history,” Walz said.

He urged Democrats to work on issues of importance to rural and working class South Dakotans, like Medicaid and Medicare, and to work with labor unions.

“There’s a direct correlation between the strength of the middle class and economic security with the number of people who are in labor unions,” he said.

He also suggested the national Democratic Party should pay more attention to places like South Dakota if it expects to build a coalition durable enough to compete outside of its traditional strongholds and battleground states. “A few million dollars” could make a difference and help South Dakota build the Democratic bench, he said.

“I hear people say ‘there are no Democrats in South Dakota,’” Walz said. “But there’s a hell of a lot in this room.”

Party expects more candidates in 2026

The McGovern Day dinner is the state party’s largest annual fundraiser. Regular tickets cost $125. Meet-and-greet tickets cost twice that.

“We haven’t had a McGovern Day dinner this big at least since I’ve been around,” said Shane Merrill, chair of the state party.

The party leaned into Walz’s fame for more than ticket sales. Vermillion brewery XIX whipped up a batch of “Walz on Tap” blonde ale, sold by the can at cocktail stations and by the four-pack in a silent auction.

The enthusiasm was tempered by reality. South Dakotans registered as independents or without any political affiliation outnumber Democrats. Republicans have the most registrants and hold every statewide office, all three of the state’s congressional seats, and all but nine of the seats in the 105-member Legislature.

Democrats have faced criticism during recent South Dakota election cycles for not fielding candidates, sometimes for offices as high as Congress. Before the speeches started Saturday, state party Executive Director Dan Ahlers said that won’t be a problem in 2026.

“I need two of me to interview all the people who want to run,” he said.

The party already has candidates for U.S. Senate (Julian Beaudion), secretary of state (Terrence Davis) and U.S. representative, although Ahlers said that candidate won’t announce until the fall. Nineteen-year-old Robert Arnold has announced his candidacy for governor, and Ahlers said he expects another hopeful to announce for that race, as well.

Later, speaking from the stage, Ahlers declared “we can no longer be content with a few seats at the table. We need to run the table.”

“It shouldn’t be enough to field a good Democratic candidate,” he said. “We need to elect Democratic candidates.”

State Sen. Liz Larson, D-Sioux Falls, said she’s proud to have been the first female state Senate minority leader, but told the audience that it took time to get there. She lost in her first run for office in 2020, but “knocked on thousands of doors” and won on her second and third go-rounds.

Democrats believe, she said, “that you’re no better than anybody else, and we’re all in this together.”

“That is a politics worth showing up for,” Larson said.

One week after inking a second commutation in as many months for a person convicted of murder, Gov. Kristi Noem denied sentence reduction requests for two men serving time on theft charges.

Noem sent the denial letters Wednesday to 78-year-old Elmos Hopkins and 46-year-old James Pasek.

Hopkins picked up two five-year sentences for grand theft and one 50-year sentence for burglary in Lincoln County in 2012. His initial parole date is set for August of 2037.

Pasek was sentenced to life in prison as a habitual thief in 2003 based on an armed robbery conviction in Lawrence County and multiple previous grand theft convictions.

Noem commutes sentences for two convicted of murder

The two letters are among eight clemency denial letters signed this year by Noem’s office. Over the summer, she denied a commutation request from Edward Flad, serving time for a Brown County child pornography conviction. It’s the second time Noem has denied clemency for Flad.

Each denial came in response to a clemency recommendation by the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board reviews requests for commutations, which reduce a current inmate’s sentence, and for pardons, which clear old charges from a person’s record entirely. If a majority of its nine members vote to recommend clemency, the recommendation heads to the governor’s desk.

Under the South Dakota Constitution, only the governor can issue pardons or commutations.

Noem has signed 17 denial letters for pardons and commutations since taking office, according to her office’s response to multiple public records requests throughout 2024.

Her first commutation denial letter was sent in March of 2022 to John Proctor, who killed the stepson of his lover in Meade County in 1972. In July of this year, Noem issued Proctor a commutation.

On Aug. 21, Noem signed a commutation for Renee Eckes, who is in prison for murder in the 1998 death of David Bauman of Watertown.

On Wednesday, the governor signed an updated version of that commutation, provided to South Dakota Searchlight by the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office. Unlike the commutation for Eckes signed last week, the Wednesday version notes that Eckes’ separate five-year forgery sentence will now run concurrent with her sentence for murder, which has been reduced from life to 45 years. Eckes will be eligible for parole in September of 2027 on the murder charge. The adjustment to the forgery sentence in her new commutation means she will be able to request parole at that time, and not five years later.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the change to Eckes’ commutation or on the denials issued over the summer.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

Gov. Kristi Noem commuted the sentences of two people convicted of murder and issued 45 more pardons since February.

Since taking office in 2019, Noem has commuted the sentences of 27 people and pardoned 341.

Her first commutation of the summer was granted to 70-year-old John Proctor on July 24.

Proctor has served 51 years in prison for killing Meade County rancher Arlon Hamm. Proctor had been carrying on an affair with Hamm’s stepmother, Billie Jean Hamm, with whom he’d plotted to kill Arlon Hamm. Billie Jean Hamm, now deceased, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.

The South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended a commutation for Proctor last fall. The parole board had also recommended a commutation for Proctor in 2021.

Noem denied Proctor’s 2021 clemency request in a letter dated March 15, 2022.

Noem commutes sentence of man who stabbed three, killed one 43 years ago

The recently approved commutation reduces Proctor’s sentence from life in prison to 410 years. With credit for time served and good behavior, Proctor will be eligible for parole next July.

Noem’s most recent commutation went to 45-year-old Renee Eckes on Aug. 21, less than two months after her appearance before the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles. Her commutation was previously reported by The Dakota Scout.

Eckes had been serving a life sentence; her sentence was reduced to 45 years. She will be eligible for parole in September of 2027, the commutation says.

The board unanimously recommended that Noem issue a commutation for Eckes after its July meeting. The board reviews clemency applications, but Noem has the final say on the recommendations.

Noem has also issued commutations for people who didn’t follow the formal process of applying to the board. Most recently, in December, Noem commuted the sentences of 12 women convicted of felony drug ingestion, a charge unique to South Dakota that can land a person in prison for having illicit substances in their system. None of the women made their case before the parole board.

Eckes was 19 years old when she and 17-year-old Jessi Owens killed David Bauman with a hammer during a burglary attempt. The pair entered Bauman’s Watertown home in search of cash, but he came home and caught them in the act, setting up the physical altercation that ended his life. Owens grabbed a hammer and struck Bauman, after which Eckes picked it up and continued to strike him.

Owens’ life sentence was reduced after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional. She was released in 2018.

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

On the pardons side, Noem issued 45 between July 2 and Aug. 21, signing them in batches on July 2, July 24, July 26 and Aug. 21.

Pardons permanently erase old charges from a person’s criminal record. Because the state constitution grants sole authority for clemency to the governor, pardons represent the only pathway for South Dakotans to clear their record of old charges for which they were convicted or pleaded guilty. Pardons are sealed after five years.

The summer pardons cover a range of crimes, including DUIs, controlled substance possession and burglary, among others, as well as a 39-year-old aggravated assault conviction.

Prior to July, Noem’s most recent batch of pardons were signed on Feb. 23.

On that same date, Noem signed four commutation denial letters, including one for Rex Gard, convicted of grand theft by embezzlement and sentenced to 65 years. Two members of the parole board, which voted 8-1 to recommend a commutation, called the sentence “excessive” during his clemency hearing in the summer of 2023.

As of April, Noem had signed nine denial letters in total, according to records released at the request of South Dakota Searchlight.

Noem’s office did not immediately respond to a request for any new denial letters issued since April. Spokesman Ian Fury also did not respond to questions on Noem’s reversal in the Proctor situation or her swiftness in acting upon the Eckes commutation recommendation.

Here are the latest 45 pardons issued by Noem.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

A Native American man said Gov. Kristi Noem hindered his ability to receive a fair trial when she displayed a photo of him recently as alleged proof of cartel activity on reservations.

Noem flashed three photos during a May 17 press conference while talking about the Mexican drug cartel activity she said is happening in tribal communities. She did not provide any names with the photos at that press conference, but Noem’s office had previously shared the photo with South Dakota Searchlight.

The images were sent to Searchlight in late April when the outlet asked for proof of the governor’s repeated allegations of cartel activity on reservations, and for proof of Noem’s claim that tribal leaders are personally benefiting from a cartel presence on their lands. Tribal leaders have denied those allegations.

Searchlight has independently determined and verified that the most identifiable image — a close-up of a man’s face — is a picture of Charles Cain Merrival, 32, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

South Dakota Searchlight is not publishing the photo used by Gov. Noem. The photos in the story were offered by Merrival’s family members.

Merrival has been in custody at the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City since January 2022 and for all but a few months since 2020. He wore an ankle monitor during his release and was restricted from traveling more than 25 miles from Rapid City.

He is currently being held on federal charges for methamphetamine distribution stemming from separate incidents in July 2021 and January 2022. He’s also being held on state charges for a robbery alleged to have taken place in 2020.

“Kristi Noem herself falsely labeled me a gang member that is affiliated with Mexican drug cartels and the commission of murders,” Merrival said in a phone interview. “Because of Kristi Noem’s decision to personally intervene, any presumption of innocence that I had is gone forever.”

Merrival said he’s never been the target of a murder investigation, cartel-related or otherwise. An internet search for Merrival’s name does turn up a 2021 homicide case, but that involved a different Charles Merrival. That man, whose middle name is Joe, was released from federal prison last summer after serving time for involuntary manslaughter.

Noem doubles down on cartel talk, asks tribes to partner with state

Charles Cain Merrival’s mother, Darla Merrival, said she feels that her son was targeted because he’s Native American. She’s taking care of one of Merrival’s children at the moment and said she’s been able to shield the girl from anything about her father, his charges or the press conference that used him to make a point about drug cartels.

But she was “shocked and appalled” by Noem’s actions.

“I don’t think she even knows what’s going on herself, you know what I mean?” Darla Merrival said. “It just fit her narrative.”

Noem’s office did not respond to an email asking about the use of Merrival’s photo.

‘Ghost Dance’ club connection

Noem has repeatedly asserted since a Jan. 31 speech that President Joe Biden’s border policies have made tribal communities vulnerable to infiltration by Mexican drug cartels.

“Murders are being committed by cartel members on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City, and a gang called the Ghost Dancers are affiliated with these cartels,” Noem said.

Tensions between Noem and tribal leaders flared after that speech, with some expressing concern about her use of the phrase “ghost dancers.” It was originally applied to participants in a Native American spiritual ceremony that grew in popularity prior to the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. At a press conference the day after her January speech, Noem responded that “I didn’t name” the gang.

Merrival said the Ghost Dancers “ceased to exist as a club” in July 2021.

“There’s no way it’s possible that a motorcycle club that no longer exists is currently responsible for anything, let alone associations with cartels,” Merrival said.

When asked if the Ghost Dancers club is still active in the state, a spokesman for Attorney General Marty Jackley said the office cannot comment on pending criminal cases.

All three of the biker pictures displayed by Noem show men in leather biker jackets bearing the words “Ghost Dance” and “support your local Bandidos.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration linked members of Bandidos motorcycle gangs in New York and Texas to cartel drug trafficking in its 2018 National Threat Assessment. The 2024 assessment does not mention outlaw motorcycle clubs.

During her press conference, Noem not only flashed the biker photos but also shared some video clips, quotes from tribal leaders and anonymous tribal members, and referenced the Pine Ridge-area kidnapping of an FBI victim specialist by men from El Salvador and Guatemala.

Ace Crawford, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office, told South Dakota Searchlight that the kidnapping had “no clear connection” to cartels.

Legal motion: Pending case impacted by press conference

Merrival had a jury trial for his federal drug charges in September, but it ended in a mistrial. His new trial is scheduled to begin on July 9, despite his recent efforts to delay it.

Noem’s use of his photo has complicated the federal case, according to documents filed by Merrival’s lawyer, John Rusch of Rapid City. Rusch declined to comment on the case while it’s pending.

The Monday after Noem’s Friday press conference, Rusch filed a motion for a continuance because “Governor Kristi Noem has publicly made statements that the Defendant and Ghost Dance which Defendant is a member of, are part of the cartel operating in South Dakota.”

“This information was published in a wide variety of news sources and included pictures of the Defendant,” Rusch wrote. “The Defendant is asking for time to address these new allegations and counteract the negative and untrue statements being made about him in the press. The Defendant has requested discovery from Law Enforcement provided to the Governor that these claims are based upon.”

Judge Karen Schreier denied the motion three days later, writing that the case has been pending for years.

“Defendant’s attorney was not appointed to respond to allegations in the press, only to represent defendant with regard to the criminal charges that have been brought against him in the indictment,” the judge wrote.

Darla Merrival, Charles’ mother, is concerned that Noem’s choice to connect him to cartels in such a public fashion taints not only potential jurors but feeds into an inaccurate public perception of anyone who chooses to be a part of a motorcycle gang.

“I have friends that are members of motorcycle clubs, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all involved in illegal activities,” she said. “But their whole agenda is to fit him in with the Bandidos, so it looks like he was definitely doing what they think he’s doing.”

Steven Bell, special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Omaha, did not comment on Merrival’s case and told South Dakota Searchlight it would be “way outside our lane” to comment on biker gangs and connections to drug cartels.

He did, however, say that membership in a biker gang or the presence of a Bandidos patch on a leather jacket alone doesn’t signal illegal activity.

“You’d be talking about profiling,” Bell said. “And we don’t profile.”

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and Twitter.

The state of South Dakota has issued an apology letter and a $300,000 payment to a transgender advocacy group for the abrupt cancellation of a Department of Health contract in 2022.

Those are the terms of a settlement agreement inked Thursday in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by The Transformation Project shortly after the cancellation.

Transformation Project calls termination of state contract ‘unwarranted’

The group had a contract with the state, paid for with federal funds, to provide community health worker services to the LGBTQ+ community from its Sioux Falls headquarters.

The cancellation came on Dec. 16, 2022, shortly after a conservative news outlet contacted Gov. Kristi Noem to ask why the state had signed the $136,000 contract.

Department of Health Secretary Joan Adam resigned in the wake of the controversy, though neither she nor the state would comment on the reason for her departure.

The Transformation Project’s lawsuit cited Noem’s public comments on transgender people and her response to the conservative news outlet, made through spokesperson Ian Fury, as proof that the decision was discriminatory in nature.

“The contract was signed without Gov. Noem’s prior knowledge or approval,” Fury told the outlet.

The state offered a series of alleged failures on the part of The Transformation Project as reasons for the cancellation, but the lawsuit argued that those reasons were meant to put “a thin gloss” of legitimacy on a discriminatory action.

Apology: Group was treated ‘differently’

The community health worker hired through the contract, Jack Fonder, was also named as a plaintiff in The Transformation Project’s lawsuit.

As part of the settlement, the current Department of Health secretary wrote an apology letter to Fonder and the project’s director, Susan Williams.

“On behalf of the State of South Dakota, I apologize that the Transformation Project’s contract was terminated and for treating the Transformation Project differently than other organizations awarded Community Health Worker contracts,” Secretary Melissa Magstadt wrote in the Jan. 17 letter.

Transgender employee at center of contract controversy pledges to fight on

She went on to “emphasize that all South Dakotans are entitled to equal treatment under the law — regardless of their race, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, or sex.”

The settlement agreement spells out the $300,000 payment – a figure more than double the amount of the contract, and enough to cover the attorney fees associated with the lawsuit.

The document also has the state agreeing “not to discriminate against the Transformation Project in violation of state or federal law with respect to any service, program, or activity that the State provides.”

The state “does not admit liability for the claims pleaded in the Litigation, but admits that the State treated the Transformation Project differently than other organizations awarded Community Health Worker contracts.”

‘We are vindicated’

The nonprofit lauded the settlement on Friday as proof that it had followed through on its obligations under the contract.

“We are vindicated as the government has acknowledged what we knew the very day we learned of our contract’s cancellation: that we did not break any procedures and we did not fail to meet the terms of the CHW contract in any way,” Williams said in a statement to South Dakota Searchlight. “To put it simply, the government canceled our contract because of the very population we serve – the transgender community.”

Brendan Johnson, the former U.S. attorney for South Dakota who represented the advocacy group, called the settlement a win for non-discrimination.

‘Children are political targets’: A family’s struggle with SD’s trans health care ban

“This settlement marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to civil rights advocacy,” said Johnson, of Robins Kaplan LLP. “We commend the resiliency of the LGBTQ+ community and remain committed to vigorously upholding their rights.”

The Transformation Project has been an outspoken advocacy group for that community, and Fonder’s contracted role was intended to help members with health system navigation, health promotion and coaching, and education. The federal funds used to pay Fonder’s contract were earmarked for certain targeted groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.

In a Friday statement, Fonder called the moment “an exciting time in history” for South Dakota’s trans community.

“I assumed the role of CHW with the intention of providing trans people in our community with the resources they require to succeed in this state, little realizing that doing so would result in my own outing as a trans man for standing up for what is right,” Fonder said. “We promise to keep up the battle for transgender rights and to make sure they have access to the resources they require.”

Eighty percent of LGBTQ+ youth in South Dakota report they’ve experienced discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to The Transformation Project. Fifty-three percent of LGBTQ+ youth in South Dakota have seriously considered suicide in the past year and 19% report attempting suicide in the same timeframe – higher than for other youth in South Dakota. About 75% of LGBTQ+ youth also report experiencing anxiety and 58% report symptoms of depression.

“When our organization became a target of discrimination, we knew that we had to fight back, not just on behalf of our Community Health Worker, but on behalf of the entire population of transgender people across South Dakota,” wrote Williams, the Transformation Project director. “This settlement sends some clear and strong messages: that discrimination against transgender people will not be tolerated in South Dakota, and that when the government discriminates against transgender people, there are consequences. We hope that this is a message that reverberates across our state.”

The settlement will allow the group to keep Fonder on staff as a community health worker – a position he kept even after the dissolution of the contract. The group will continue to apply for future contracts with the state, Williams said.

Fury, Gov. Noem’s spokesperson, did not respond to a request for comment.

2024-01-18 Transformation Project Apology Letter

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and Twitter.