Noem sought to avoid ethics hearing, seal off records

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem asked a state ethics board to dismiss a complaint against her without a public hearing and to seal off certain records.

The Republican governor's arguments in an April filing were made public Friday as the state's Government Accountability Board released records in a complaint against her.

The ethics complaint was sparked by a report from the Associated Press last year that Noem had taken a hands-on role in a state agency shortly after it had moved to deny her daughter a real estate appraiser license.

The three retired judges who evaluated the ethics complaint unanimously found last month that there was enough evidence for them to believe that Noem “engaged in misconduct” by committing malfeasance and a conflict of interest.