PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Auditor Rich Sattgast is refusing to turn over state credit card records for Govs. Kristi Noem and Dennis Daugaard, contending it would compromise their personal safety.
Sattgast, responding to a public records request by The Dakota Scout, cited a provision in state law when arguing the records can only be released after they no longer exist.
The request, denied June 20, sought bank statements, invoices and receipts for all purchases made by Noem and Daugaard on their state-issued credit cards. Purchases made on their cards are reimbursed with taxpayer funds.
In denying the request, Sattgast said records are public after 10 years while acknowledging documents are destroyed after seven years.
Governor’s have been called to task in past years for non-disclosure of state credit card spending.
In 2022, American Oversight sued the Office of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and the state’s Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) for failing to release public records about expenses related to Noem’s activities while in office.
Under South Dakota’s Sunshine Law, the public has a right to access government records, including “any state … expenditure involving public funds.” While the law contains a narrow exception for sensitive security information, the request submitted by American Oversight specifically excluded records of “costs related to Governor Noem’s security associated with this travel.”
The governor’s office refused to release any expense records at all, claiming that allowing the public to see any details of Noem’s travel spending would create a security risk, without explaining why it wasn’t able to redact only specific information that might reasonably be described as security-related.
