PIERRE, S.D. — In a release issued Tuesday evening, Governor Kristi Noem announced Secretary of Corrections Mike Leidholt and State Penitentiary Warden Darin Young were placed on administrative leave in light of an anonymous report.
The release states Noem was briefed on a summary of an internal review conducted by the South Dakota Bureau of Human Resources that was prepared as part of an investigation following an anonymous complaint. The complaint includes allegation of sexual harassments, nepotism, poor pay and bad equipment.
“My top priority as governor is keeping South Dakotans safe, and that includes the men and women who work at the State Penitentiary and those who are confined there,” said Gov. Noem.
It was announced that Tim Reisch will be appointed, effective immediately, to serve as interim Secretary of Corrections. Reisch served as Secretary of Corrections from 2003 to 2011, and he retired in 2019 after eight years as Adjutant General of the South Dakota National Guard.
Gov. Noem also announced that Doug Clark, the Deputy Secretary of Corrections, is stepping in as acting warden of the State Penitentiary until a longer-term interim can be named.
The governor has assigned two members of her cabinet, Darin Seeley, Commissioner of the Bureau of Human Resources, and Laurie Gill, Secretary of Social Services, to work from the Penitentiary and assist Acting Warden Clark in addressing this internal review.
Governor Noem has instructed General Reisch, Acting Warden Clark, Secretary Gill, and Commissioner Seeley to take immediate action to address this internal review and to commission an independent third party to investigate the penitentiary and offer additional recommendations.
