South Dakota prosecutor: No charges for Noem’s airplane use

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota prosecutor who was overseeing an investigation into Gov. Kristi Noem’s use of state government aircraft says that the investigation found nothing to support a criminal prosecution.

Hughes County State’s Attorney Jessica LaMie says that there was “no basis to pursue” any actions on the allegations that the Republican governor had misused the state plane or that the plane’s flight records had been altered. She called an allegation that flight records had been tampered with “frivolous.”

Noem had argued that Ravnsborg filed the complaint as political retribution. She had pushed for Ravnsborg to resign for his conduct surrounding a 2020 car crash in which he struck and killed a pedestrian. Ravnsborg was impeached and removed from office earlier this year.

Noem, a potential 2024 White House contender, had used the plane to attend events hosted by political organizations in 2019.

October 26, 2022