South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has filled two legislative seats, one of them empty for months as she sought and awaited a state Supreme Court opinion on legislator conflicts of interest.
Last fall, Noem had asked the high court to weigh in on legislator conflicts of interests related to state contracts after a state senator resigned her seat and agreed to a settlement to pay back about $500,000 of federal coronavirus aid she received for her preschool business.
The court heard oral arguments last month in a rare meeting of the three branches of state government, and issued its its opinion on Friday, backed 4-1 by the justices.
Justice Mark Salter wrote: “The contract restriction stated in (the South Dakota Constitution) is not a categorical bar on all contracts funded by the State. Instead, it prohibits a legislator, or former legislator within one year following the expiration of the legislator’s term, from being interested, directly or indirectly, in contracts that are authorized by laws passed during the legislator’s term.”