PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Legislature’s Executive Board has approved a request from the Government Operations and Audit Committee to issue subpoenas to Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and the head of the state motor vehicles division to appear and testify in executive session.
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The 14-0 vote during a Tuesday morning special teleconference came a week after Houdyshell on October 21 had refused to disclose to the legislative committee some of the internal controls that the Revenue Department is taking regarding allegations that now-former state government employees issued fictitious ownership titles for motor vehicles.
Houdyshell cited a legal-ethics rule restricting what lawyers can publicly say about investigations they are involved in. The Executive Board’s chair, Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck , said that would be a dangerous precedent.
“That concerns me anybody would attempt to restrict a legislative committee based on that rule,” Schoenbeck, a lawyer, said.