SOUTH DAKOTA DOC ANNOUNCES NEW WARDEN AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE PENITENTIARY

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Corrections has hired a new warden for the State Penitentiary.

Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko announced that Joseph Roemmich will now oversee the facility in Sioux Falls.

Roemmich comes from New Mexico and was most recently warden at the Cibola County Correctional Center.

“Joseph has extensive experience working in the corrections field in a variety of correctional and detention settings,” said Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko. “His work in all areas of security operations as a warden, assistant warden, chief of security, investigator, and officer will be valuable as he helps our corrections staff develop and incorporate modern correctional practices.”

“I look forward to working with Penitentiary staff to help positively affect the safety and security of the staff, our offenders, and the people of South Dakota,” said Roemmich.

He is set to begin on June 24.

DOC Director of Prison Operations Amber Pirraglia has been serving as Interim Warden of the Penitentiary in addition to her regular duties.

 

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY SECURES FULL FEDERAL FUNDING, WILL RESUME INTERLIBRARY LOAN DELIVERIES

PIERRE, S.D. (John Hult / South Dakota Searchlight) – The South Dakota State Library has secured the second half of its federal funding, which will allow for the resumption of interlibrary loan deliveries over the summer.

The library relies on the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for about half of its annual funding.

The money helps pay for things like interlibrary loans, professional development for librarians across South Dakota, summer reading program support and public access to paid educational databases.

Access to that funding was called into question twice over the last six months. First, Former Gov. Kristi Noem released a budget plan that slashed state funding for the library to a level too low to meet the federal match necessary to secure IMLS funding.

State lawmakers returned enough money to the library in their final budget in March to maintain access to the grants, but an executive order to gut IMLS from President Trump threw the South Dakota State Library’s future into question again.

Money for the grants is congressionally appropriated, but advocates worried that IMLS staff cuts caused by the Trump order would make it impossible for the federal agency to process grant applications.

In the face of that uncertainty, the State Library announced a suspension of the courier service that delivers books from library to library through interlibrary loans. Without a courier service, local libraries would’ve needed to mail materials ordered through interlibrary loan.

State Librarian George Seamon got good news in late spring. He told the South Dakota Library Board of a notice from IMLS on the state’s federal grant on April 24.

It was to be the board’s last meeting. Lawmakers dissolved the citizen-led advisory group and cut three positions from the State Library as part of the compromise deal to save it. Seamon told the board during the April meeting that the departing employees had new jobs.

He also said the state had received half its IMLS money, and that securing the other half was contingent on answers to some follow-up questions from IMLS on how the dollars would be spent.

Nancy Van Der Weide, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, confirmed this week that the remainder of federal funding has now been secured. The state library is an arm of the state Department of Education.

The interlibrary loan courier service will resume June 1, she wrote in an email to South Dakota Searchlight.

The future of funding on the federal side beyond this year is unclear, however. Congress appropriates IMLS funding in periodic increments, most recently in 2018. Congress faces a choice of whether to re-up IMLS funding beyond 2025.

 

GOVERNOR LARRY RHODEN CREATES DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TASK FORCE AS TRUMP CUTS FEMA

PIERRE, S.D. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) – Republican South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed an executive order this week to plan for future disasters as the Trump administration works to shift the responsibility for disaster relief to state and local entities.

“We pray that the most challenging circumstances will never arise, but we are preparing so that South Dakota can face such situations with determination, resilience, and grit,” Rhoden said in a press release.

President Trump has called the Federal Emergency Management Agency a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.” FEMA is led by Homeland Security Secretary and former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Trump signed an executive order in March titled “Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness,” which says “federal policy must rightly recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the State, local, and even individual levels.”

The Trump order also instructs federal agencies to reevaluate grants, contracts, and technical assistance funding programs. FEMA has since ended the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The 2021 program aimed to direct $1 billion in funding toward infrastructure projects to help communities across the U.S. “reduce their hazard risk” as they “build capability and capacity.” According to a tally of federal cuts compiled and updated weekly by the governor’s office, $8.9 million in South Dakota projects were set to benefit from BRIC grants.

Critics say the shift in disaster relief responsibilities and funding from the federal government to state and local governments will leave poorer, rural states unprepared and unable to respond.

Rhoden says the task force will “support” the Trump administration’s executive order.

Rhoden dubbed the group the Governor’s Resilience and Infrastructure Task Force, or GRIT. He said the task force will serve as an advisory body to “develop policy recommendations, assess risks and vulnerabilities, and support long-term planning and investment in critical infrastructure systems across our state.”

The task force will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen. Adjutant General Mark Morrell of the South Dakota National Guard will serve as vice chair. Venhuizen said the task force is more than a response to President Trump ending programs and planning to shift responsibilities to states. He said the concept of the task force has been under consideration since last year.