Lawmakers approve subpoenas for DOR leaders amid investigation into false titles

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – As the investigation into a false title scheme at the South Dakota Department of Revenue continues, department leaders will soon be subpoenaed to testify before state lawmakers.

The Legislature’s Executive Council on Tuesday approved a request from the Government Operations and Audit Committee (GOAC) to subpoena Revenue Secretary Michael Hoodishell and Department of Motor Vehicles Director Rosa Yeager.

A two-day GOAC hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12 in Pierre.

The subpoena request follows a GOAC hearing last week in which oversight committee members sought answers about changes and safety measures the department is implementing after multiple investigations uncovered schemes involving fake job titles allegedly involving three former employees. That hearing went into executive session, where DOR leaders declined to provide more details, citing the pending criminal case.

“Essentially, we should be able to conduct legislative inquiry at the same time that the judicial branch is performing its functions,” Sen. David Wheeler (R-Huron), a member of GOAC, said Tuesday. “We have a meeting scheduled in January. We need to know what corrective actions, if any, the Legislature needs to take. And it’s hard to do that when we can’t get first-hand information about what happened, why it happened and what they did to fix it.”

Executive Council Chairman Sen. Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown) echoed that sentiment, saying state law governing the publicity of a trial applies only to the attorneys involved, which in this case refers to the Attorney General.

“It would be a dangerous precedent if the rules of ethics applicable to lawyers interfered with the legislative process in almost any respect, except for lawyers involved in some litigation. It connects them,” Schoenbeck said. “But you would never want the Legislature to be in a situation where they can’t hold a hearing on a bill or issue.”

Any further testimony from DOR leaders in December will likely be given behind closed doors in executive session.

The two-day hearing will begin with questions to the Department of Revenue on December 11. GOAC will also continue to investigate the Department of Human Services following an investigation alleging a former DSS stole $1.8 million from the state.

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