As the year comes to an end, I wanted to take time to reflect on some highlights that the County Commission has been part of in 2023.
One of the major highlights of the year was the opening of a new highway facility. This move not only marked a strategic decision for operational efficiency but also symbolized a commitment to modernizing the county's infrastructure. The facility is equipped with technology and resources to streamline the county's highway operations, ensuring a smoother flow of traffic and enhanced public safety.
Early in 2023, the Commission authorized $50 million in bonds to build a state-of-the-art Juvenile Justice Center (JJC). This facility is set to redefine the county's approach to juvenile justice, providing a modern and rehabilitative environment for young offenders.
Public safety is a primary focus for the Commission and as our community grows, the Sheriff’s Office has begun planning in earnest to move in to the currently vacant space (referred to as UC3 or Unit Control 3) of the jail. Both the Jail and Juvenile Justice Center projects highlight the significance that public safety plays in county operations – and that as our communities continue to grow, our criminal justice system must be ready to address any growing pains.
On the financial front, the Commission received the Financial Action Network report, offering valuable insights into the economic landscape of Minnehaha County. This data will play a crucial role in shaping future budgetary decisions and initiatives to bolster the county's financial health.
Collaboration has been a key theme for the Commission, evident in our annual tour of the county with Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. This involves hands-on exploration aimed at highlighting the diversity of businesses found in our county. Such initiatives lay the groundwork for sustainable development and economic growth that benefits all residents.
The Commission also received the final report from the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds Task Force, marking the culmination of extensive research and community engagement. This comprehensive report will guide the Commission in making informed decisions about the future of the fairgrounds, ensuring it remains a vibrant hub for community events and activities.
Looking beyond local matters, the Commission monitored the legislative summer study concerning county funding. This engagement demonstrates a commitment to proactive governance, addressing challenges at the legislative level to secure the necessary resources for the county's continued growth and prosperity.
Looking ahead, 2024 will no doubt contain its share of challenges. I am very confident the team at Minnehaha County is ready to tackle them. The Commission is fortunate to work with a great team of very dedicated public servants who work hard every day to meet the needs of all of the citizens of Minnehaha County.
Ian Buettner was declared MVP of the Entringer Classic on Saturday, where the boys' basketball team won 64-50 against Iroquois/Lake Preston. //Photos by Renee Edmundson
On Saturday, December 30, the Blue Dragon Boys Basketball team headed to Brookings for the Michael Entringer Classic. Garretson was pitted against the Iroquois/Lake Preston Sharks, and took home their first win of the season with a score of 64-50.
The Dragons took the lead early and kept it throughout the game, going into the half with a 10-point lead. They scored 17 more points to the Sharks' 16 points in the third and 18 points to ILP's 15 in the fourth quarter, widening the gap.
Ian Buettner was declared MVP of the game as he brought in 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Dragons headed to Dell Rapids St. Mary's for a double-header on Tuesday (results not available at press time), and will finish out their week with the Big East Conference. The first round happens in the Dragon's Lair tonight (Thursday) against Sioux Valley. The game begins at 7:30 p.m.
The Blue Dragon Youth Wrestling Tournament was held last Thursday, December 28 with 40 clubs, including 38 wrestlers from Garretson, participating.
//Garrick A. Moritz, Gazette
This popular tournament allows youth wrestlers from pre-k to 6th grade compete. The largest teams were comprised of the Brandon MatCats, who submitted 48 competitors, Dell Rapids with 46 participants, and Garretson with 38. However, Sioux Valley, Tea Area, Harrisburg, and West Central showed up in force as well.
While all the athletes did great, first place medals went to Lincoln Westover, Landon Bekaert, Miles Christensen, Jacob Miller, Dalton Story, and Caleb Miller.
//Garrick A Moritz, Gazette
The following Blue Dragon top four competitor results are by category:
PreK - Kindergarten
Weight category 33-35: 2nd Place - Silas Rodengen; 38-40: 2nd Place - Ty Johnson; 39-40: 3rd Place - Sylvie Tempel; 40-42: 2nd Place - Calvin Blake; 42-42: 4th Place - Rhylee Miller; 43-45: 1st Place - Lincoln Westover; 43-44: 4th Place - Owen Janssen; 44-45: 4th Place - Josephine Schmid; 46-47: 4th Place - Cohen Dreckman; 50-52: 2nd Place - Levi Houg; 52-53: 1st Place - Landon Bekaert; 53-55: 2nd Place - Grady Tempel
1st - 2nd Grade
Weight category 49-50: 2nd Place - Jack Frerk; 50-50: 3rd Place - Isabella Rodengen; 50-51: 3rd Place - Van Dickey; 57-59: 4th Place - Elih Petersen; 59-61: 4th Place - Aaliyah Miller; 61-62: 3rd Place - Logan Bekaert; 63-65: 4th Place - Andrew Wynia; 64-65 A: 2nd Place - Alex Olson; 64-65 B: 2nd Place - Wyatt Howe; 67-68: 3rd Place - Kade Wieneke; 68-71: 3rd Place - Matthew Miller; 73-75: 3rd Place - Ethan Richter; 76-78: 1st Place - Chase Johnson; 90-91: 3rd Place - Eleanor Zimmer
3rd - 4th Grade
Weight category 65-68: 1st Place - Miles Christensen; 68-69: 1st Place - Jacob Miller; 69-71: 3rd Place - Collin Whitley; 84-90: 4th Place - Brody Kennedy; 93-100: 3rd Place - Olive Story; 128-131: 1st Place - Dalton Story
5th - 6th Grade
Weight category 60-64: 2nd Place - Xavier Rodengen; 77-78: 1st Place - Caleb Miller; 82-85: 3rd Place - Avery Christensen; 92-95: 4th Place - Stella Frewaldt; 96-100 A: 4th Place - Macie Miller; 145-150: 3rd Place - Beckett Dickey
The high school boys wrestling team headed up north to compete in the Webster Invitational on Friday, December 29. With ten boys competing in a tough tournament, only one came away with a fourth-place finish.
Caleb Westerbur (right) took home 4th Place. //photo submitted
Caleb Westerbur had the best day out of the group as he came away with 4th place.
"He battled all day long and competed against some tough competition today," said Head Coach Brady Schleuter. "Caleb showed us what he is capable of and hopefully he continues to grow throughout the season."
Cole Schleuter, Marty Welch, Tanner Baatz, and Chase Costello all were one win away from placing.
"We started out slow but got better as the day went on," said Coach Schleuter. "[We're] still not where we want to be yet."
The Dragons were back in action on January 2nd in Salem (results not available at press time) and will be here in Garretson on January 6th as we host the Jesse James Invitational. Wrestling on Saturday begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Dragon's Lair.
On December 18th, 2023, the C and JV teams played host to the Trojans of West Central. It didn’t take long to figure out that the Blue Dragons were going to be in a battle that wouldn’t end well for the home team.
In the opening C game the Blue Dragons couldn’t get anything going as they were defeated 48 to 10.
“We struggled in all phases of the game tonight,” indicated Coach Heitkamp. “We couldn’t handle their physical domination on defense, which wouldn’t allow us to get into any sort of rhythm going offensively. The kids showed some life in the 2nd quarter as we scored 10 points, but unfortunately that was it for the night.”
Isaiah Coburn and Michael Hanisch both dropped down 3 points, while Ethan McGregor and Riley Lafferty-Maack added two points of their own.
“We are going to work very hard as coaches to get these playing with confidence and develop an attitude that they can compete with anyone on any given night!” stated Heitkamp.
In the JV game the struggles continued for the Blue Dragons as they were taken down 64-20 by West Central.
In the opening 6 minutes the Blue Dragons showed some nice things as they were executing their offensive sets leading to 12 points, but could only muster 8 more points the rest of the night.
“We showed in the opening quarter that we can play with anyone, but we need to continue with that competitive drive for an entire 4 quarters,” said Heitkamp. “The kids just need to realize that they need to do the little things like boxing out, staying out of foul trouble, and take care of the ball to keep themselves in the game.”
Collin Olson and Carter Siemonsma led the way for the Blue Dragons as they netted 9 and 6 points each, while Treyton Decker and Cole Jessen finished the night with 3 and 2 points.
The Blue Dragon junior high boys’ basketball team has kicked off their season in winning fashion thus far, only dropping one game of the eight games played. “We only have a total of 13 players over three grades (6th, 7th, and 8th grades) so it is very vital that we work on the little things all year to continue to improve each and every day that we step on the floor for either practice or a game. All our kids have taken every challenge that is given to them and most importantly, they want to win”, stated Coach Cory Buchholz who is in his first year with a younger crew than he is used to. “It has taken a little to get used to, but I think the boys are finding out what it takes to work as a team in both in and out of the gym.”
For our first contests of the season on December 5th, the boys traveled to Hills, MN to take on an always talented group of boys from Hills-Beaver-Creek. In the seventh-grade game, the boys came out a little sluggish in the first half but started to find a groove and didn’t look back, outscoring their opponents 50-43 in the first contest of the year.
Colton Buchholz lit up the scoring column pouring in 23 points. He was followed by fellow seventh graders, Cameron Roberts and Gavin Coburn, each scoring 13 and 11 points respectively. Gabe Coburn rounded out the winning scoring column by adding the remaining 3 points.
In the 8th grade contest, our opponents were just the aggressors all evening long outscoring the Blue Dragons by the score of 28-52. “The H-B-C 8th grade is a very talented group of young men, and they exploited our weaknesses. It appears we were just trying to go through the motions, and they just wanted it a little more” stated Coach Buchholz.
Cooper Smith had the hot hand in the opening contest of the year for the 8th grade, scoring 8 points. Colton Buchholz contributed 7 points, while Gavin Coburn dumped in 6 points. Casen Smith along with Shea Smidt rounded out the scoring with 4 and 3 points respectively.
On December 9th, the boys traveled to Chester to take on the Fliers, and came out on the winning end of the contest by the score of 36-17. Leading the way for the 7th grade was Cameron Roberts and Gavin Coburn with each contributing 12 and 10 points apiece. Colton Buchholz contributed with a solid game on both ends of the floor while scoring 8 points. Trevor Bucklin chipped in with his first points of the young season scoring 4 with Gabe Coburn chipped in 2 points of his own.
The 8th grade game was the same outcome with the hometown team taking the win with a score of 32-18. “If we continue to grow as a team, we will continue to see success on the court” according to Coach Buchholz. “This was a game where we came out right away with the gas pedal to the floor.” Colton Buchholz found a groove while topping the scoring column with 16 points. Shea Smidt had a great game on both ends of the floor coming away with huge rebounds and scoring his season high, 8 points. The man in the middle, Casen Smith, was able to put back some big buckets for 6 points, while Gavin Coburn added 4 points to round out the winning team’s scoring.
On the 15th of December, the young Blue Dragons hosted our first home contests of the season hosting the Bulldogs from Baltic. While we overmatched the Bulldogs from the opening tip of the 7th grade game, the 8th grade game was a back and forth battle with the home team taking the win in the closing seconds of the game. “This was a night that I have been trying to teach the boys from day 1. Come out of the locker room just knowing that you are the better team from the start. The boys really responded, running through offensive sets and really finding themselves in the correct positions on defense all night long. I was really proud of how we didn’t back down, especially in the 8th grade game,” stated Coach Buchholz.
In the 7th grade game, our 3 7th graders really showed up, and showed out. Colton Buchholz tossed in 17 points followed closely by Gavin Coburn with 14 points of his own. Cameron Roberts added 11 points and “hot shooting” Cooper Smith, hit a 3 pointer to round out the scoring for the Blue Dragons. In the 8th grade contest, the scoring column looked similar with Colton Buchholz pouring in 18 points, Casen Smith adding 8 hard earned points and Gavin Coburn adding 7 big points to secure the win.
December 18th the Blue Dragons played host to the very young Cardinals from Dell Rapids St. Mary’s. “I knew coming into the game that we would be playing 2 young and scrappy teams. This gave us an opportunity to really let some of our kids get a ton of playing time to gain some valuable experience,” quoted Coach Buchholz. “We only won by 2 in the 7th grade game, 28-26, but this didn’t tell the story of the game in which we controlled from the opening tip.”
Having the hot hands in very minimal minutes of work was Gavin Coburn and Colton Buchholz each with 7 points apiece. Cam Roberts added 3 buckets for 6 points while Cooper Smith hit another 3 pointer for 3 points of his own. Gabe Coburn and Miles Hanson each contributed big buckets for 2 points apiece and 6th grader, Mason Snyders, etched his name in the scoring column contributing a free throw to end the Dragon scoring.
While winning the 8th grade game by a score of 38-30, Colton Buchholz took over the game pouring in a season high 22 points followed by Gavin Coburn with 6 points of his own. Adding 4 points apiece were Casen Smith along with Shea Smidt and Cameron Roberts added a big bucket for his only 2 points of the game.
The young Blue Dragons will now have a break until January 8th when we hit the hardwood again hosting the Quarriers from Dell Rapids (4:00pm) and then we travel to Canton the following day. Come out and support the young Blue Dragons!!
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The long-stalled process of naming two new federal judges to South Dakota’s U.S. District Court is expected to speed up in January 2024, with Sioux Falls lawyer Eric Schulte atop the names being considered for a lifetime appointment.
South Dakota News Watch interviews with people involved in the process reveal fresh urgency to negotiations between President Joe Biden’s administration and Republican U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds to find candidates agreeable to both sides.
Schulte, a litigation lawyer with Davenport Evans and former president of the State Bar of South Dakota, could be nominated by Biden as early as January. The nomination is sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee and then must be confirmed by majority vote on the Senate floor.
The federal courthouse in Sioux Falls has been busy along with other divisions. South Dakota’s district handled 822 criminal and civil cases combined in 2022. That number is up to 854 in 2023 through Dec. 20. (Photo: South Dakota News Watch)
Schulte, a graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law, has practiced at Davenport Evans since 2000, focusing on general civil litigation, insurance defense, and commercial and complex litigation. He did not respond to a request for comment from News Watch.
Chief U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange could not comment on the nomination process but told News Watch that any action on the vacancies would be welcomed because of the state’s increasingly crowded federal docket.
The District of South Dakota has started bringing in judges from other states to relieve the strain on current judges that stretches back more than two years, when Judge Jeffrey Viken of Rapid City announced his retirement timeline.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland of North Dakota and U.S. District Judge James Moody of Arkansas have presided over recent criminal trials in Rapid City.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep up,” said Lange. “We’re responsible for our own district, and (using judges from other states) is obviously not ideal or sustainable long-term. We’re doing the best we can.”
South Dakota’s district has four divisions: southern in Sioux Falls, northern in Aberdeen, central in Pierre and western in Rapid City. It handled 822 criminal and civil cases combined in 2022, said Matt Thelen, clerk of courts. That number is up to 854 in 2023 through Dec. 20.
Viken announced his retirement in September 2021 but took senior status, a process by which qualified judges assume a reduced workload and create a federal vacancy. He kept most of his criminal cases while his civil docket was distributed among other judges.
Eric Schulte, a litigation lawyer with Davenport Evans and former president of the State Bar of South Dakota, could be nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden as early as January. (Photo: Davenport Evans)
Viken fully retired at the end of September 2023, meaning all the Western Division’s criminal cases fell to the other judges, creating the need for occasional help from out of state.
Indian Country jurisdiction makes the Western Division a unique and busy docket, with the division encompassing nearly 40% of South Dakota’s federal criminal cases filed in 2023.
Those criminal cases have been distributed among active judges: Lange in Pierre and Aberdeen, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Sioux Falls, and two district judges on senior status, Lawrence Piersol and Charles Kornmann. Kornmann, 86, and Piersol, 83, have been on senior status for more than a decade and don’t work a full caseload, taking time off in the winter months.
Schreier announced in January 2023 that she plans to retire and take senior status upon the confirmation of her successor. That means there are two seats to be filled out of three available active judgeships in the South Dakota district.
“We have two senior judges handling a significant number of cases and the current active judges handling a crushing number of them,” said Neil Fulton, dean of the University of South Dakota School of Law, who served as chief of staff under former Gov. Mike Rounds. “I hope that everyone who has a say in this remains focused on identifying mutually acceptable candidates that can move forward.”
Political realities have shaped the process in South Dakota.
Biden, a Democrat up for re-election in 2024, is assessing vacancies in a heavy Republican state that already has a stable of Democratic-chosen lifetime appointees from the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama presidencies.
Of the active judges, Schreier was appointed by Clinton and Lange by Obama. Kornmann and Piersol were appointed by Clinton.
Biden has a razor-thin Senate majority that makes it necessary to consult with Thune and Rounds to identify agreeable candidates. Judicial nominations typically go through a Senate tradition known as the “blue slip,” which allows home-state senators to weigh in on whether the nominee should move forward.
Thune and Rounds did not respond to requests for comment through their offices for this story.
Complicating the process is the lack of a Democratic Party standard-bearer in South Dakota to shepherd the process of identifying, recommending and championing qualified candidates.
In most states, the recommendation process would be handled through the office of a Democratic statewide officeholder, as when then-Sen. Tim Johnson shepherded the 2009 appointments of Viken and Lange under the Obama administration.
With no statewide elected Democrats in South Dakota, the task fell to Randy Seiler, a former U.S. attorney and South Dakota Democratic Party chair who died in April 2023.
His top choice fell through in April 2021 when former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin announced her intention to remain as president of Augustana University in Sioux Falls.
Dan Ahlers, executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, told News Watch that he has met with potential candidates for the federal bench as he tries to steer the party through recent leadership changes.
Ahlers and party chairman Shane Merrill traveled to Washington earlier this month to meet with Democratic National Committee staff. They have sought an open channel with the White House Counsel’s Office to establish timelines for judicial nominations.
“We’ve got to have a judge West River who knows the needs of the area and understands the differences in cultures,” said Ahlers, a former state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate from Dell Rapids.
SIOUX FALLS – Minnehaha County Commissioner Dean Karsky took the center seat when he was unanimously voted chairman for the new year at the beginning of this week’s re-organization meeting.
Karsky took over from last year’s chairperson, Commissioner Jean Bender, in the first order of business at the meeting.
At this week’s meeting, Minnehaha County Commissioner Dean Karsky was elected to serve as commission chairman for 2024. During the meeting, commissioners also completed various re-organization tasks to start the new year. (Photo by Dave Baumeister)
Commissioner Gerald Benigna, another veteran on the county board, was elected as vice-chair.
In other 2024 re-organization business, for the fifth year in a row, the commission went beyond what was necessary and named four newspapers as “official publications” for county notices.
Those papers are the Garretson Gazette, the Minnehaha Messenger, the Brandon-Valley Journal and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
State law requires that county governments use all newspapers within a county for legal publications but caps that number at three.
Minnehaha County is one of the few counties in South Dakota with more than three newspapers.
In making the motion to go with the extra publication, Bender said, “I think it is worthwhile to use all four (newspapers)…I think it is the best way to reach the most people in Minnehaha County.”
The vote on selecting the four papers was 5-0.
The final major piece of starting the year called for commissioners to set their own salaries.
This year, commissioners chose a 5% increase in their wages. In doing so, they echoed former commissioner Jeff Barth in saying it is best to go with small raises each year to avoid having to do a major raise for the pay to “catch up.”
With this raise, Minnehaha County Commissioners will go from the 2023 salary of $32,822.40 to $34,465.60. In addition, the commission chairperson receives an extra $1518.40 for performing the extra duties of the chair.
Aside from reorganization, other major agenda items involved finalizing the contract for construction of the county’s new Juvenile Justice Center.
Commissioners set the “guaranteed maximum price” for construction at $42.5 million, with the overall GMP at $50 million.
The overall amount includes necessary items not involved in construction, such as contingence fees, professional fees, fixtures, furniture, etc.
The JJC is set to be completely finished by November of 2026.
County Auditor Leah Anderson also received the go ahead to set the pay for all county elections workers and officials.
She estimated that they will need about 500 poll workers to run the general election in November.
Anderson went into further detail about the make-up of the county’s 81 precincts in 63 different polling places.
Because so many polling places are comprised of more than one precinct, she again talked about her plans to help people navigate any difficulties they may have in casting ballots by using “greeters” in some precincts to direct people when needed.
The county commission meets on the first, third and fourth Tuesdays of each month, which means there will not be a meeting next week.
The next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the third-floor commission chambers of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
When Leah Anderson decided to campaign for the Minnehaha auditor position, she believed that her work experience in accounting and auditing was a likely fit for the job. Hopefully, she now recognizes the miniscule similarity between private accounting/auditing versus a county auditor’s job.
The county auditor oversees financial matters related to property values, mil-levies, tax collections and distributions, elections, etc. Lots of reports and lots of complexities that the auditor must interpret, understand, and explain. I’ve forgotten many details since it’s been thirty years since I partnered with auditors at Clay, Lake, and Brookings counties – the three locations that first computerized their data. I learned how very essential it is for the auditor and IT-department to have a warm working relationship.
My thoughts regarding what prior work experience would be most helpful for a new person stepping the role of a county auditor. My first choice would be that of a deputy auditor. Alternately, I can see an experienced county IT head-person be quite qualified for the position. Assessor’s office experience would be helpful if the first two criteria were met.
Auditor Anderson is surrounded by exceptionally bright people in the Minnehaha County courthouse. Her five commissioners are terrific. From past experience, I know the commissioners desire warm relationship with their auditor. It seems natural that commissioners expect reciprocal loyalty with the auditor. I see big, continuing problems for Auditor Anderson due to her tight connections with an outsider Canvassing Group, one that is led by a political operative who moved recently to South Dakota from Minnesota. My strong recommendation to the auditor is for her to immediately disconnect from everyone in that group. The reasons should be obvious to her.
A strong partnership between the auditor and her five commissioners is essential. Some of the auditor’s ideas are pretty far out, so open discussion with the commissioners about her deviant ideas is highly recommended. For example, the auditor’s thoughts on fooling around with vote-counting manually is one wacky idea. Eliminating many of ES&S election-reports is another. The auditor should document those plans and review them with the commissioners before the plans are finalized. Voters expect their elected the commissioners to have ultimate say on everything. Final thought: the auditor needs to ditch connections with political operatives as they present a real a danger to the auditor’s future with the county.
Lilah Kay McNamara, age 8 weeks, of Colton, SD passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, December 24, 2023.
Mass of Christian Burial was held on Friday, December 29, 2023, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Garretson with Fr. Kevin O’Dell as celebrant.
Lilah Kay lived her life surrounded by love and joy. She was called home to the Lord far before her time and welcomed into the loving arms of her great-grandfathers, Bert Rozeboom and Greg Mertz and great-grandmother, Kitty Pedersen, and cousin, Liam Schloe in Heaven. She will forever be remembered by her parents, Taylor McNamara and Synthia Mertz; 7 grandparents; 10 great-grandparents; 1 great-great grandparent; 10 uncles; 4 aunts; and many other loved ones and friends.
