County Treasurer’s office to be closed Feb. 14 to install new motor vehicle software

By Gary Dickson, Editor – Siouxland Observer

The Union County Board of Commissioners continued the process of musical chairs at their regular session on Tuesday, Feb. 4 when they named Dakota Dunes resident Robert Ballard to the open position of District 3 County Commissioner.

The position became open during the meeting of Oct. 15, 2024, when now former States Attorney Jerry Miller and County Commissioners Michael Daily, Kevin Joffer, Tom Kimmel and Peggy Ustad voted to ask Commissioner Rich Headid to suspend his participation on the board. Headid had moved out of his home in the McCook Lake neighborhood due to a divorce to a house at 303 Dakota Dunes Blvd. He apparently thought his new residence was within the boundary of District 3, but it turned out it wasn’t. This led to the board, at Miller’s urging, to take action to remove him from the commission. Interestingly, Peggy Ustad had only become a commissioner at the previous meeting, on Oct. 1, when she was appointed to fill the vacancy left open by her late husband Milt’s death.

Treasurer’s Office closing for the day

Of interest to Union County residents with vehicle tags expiring this month is that county treasurer offices statewide will be installing a new motor vehicle software program. The Union County Treasurer informed the commissioners that the Treasurer’s Office in Elk Point will be closed all day Friday, Feb. 14. This is so staff can install the new software and learn how to operate it. The Treasurer’s Office will be open for business again on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The courthouse is closed on Monday, Feb. 17 in honor of Presidents’ Day.

Personnel merry-go-round

If you think there seems to be a lot of change when it comes to the staff at the courthouse and jail . . . you would be correct. There are new people, people in new jobs in the same building and people who’ve left altogether. This is in addition to the ones mentioned earlier in this story. We’ll start with the changes noted so far this year, just in case you missed it.

Crystal Harkness, County Highway Department Executive Secretary, retired on Jan. 31 following 40 years of service to the county. Moving into Harkness’ position is departmental executive assistant Samantha Langley.

Cheyenne Hill was hired as a full-time jailer starting Dec. 30, 2024. Debra Severson was named County Register of Deeds effective Jan. 1, 2025. She previously had been Chief Deputy Register of Deeds. Jailer Roberto Alvarez-Arreola resigned effective Feb. 9. Kimora Cross was appointed Chief Deputy State’s Attorney, effective Jan. 1. Cross moved up from Deputy State’s Attorney. Grant Wunder was appointed Deputy State’s Attorney, effective Feb. 1. Wunder previously served as Deputy State’s Attorney in Codington County, Watertown, S.D. Laurie Buum was appointed Chief Deputy Register of Deeds effective Feb. 10. She previously had been Deputy Magistrate in the Union County Clerk of Courts office.

In other business, the commissioners . . .

• Approved a cash transfer from the General Fund to the Highway Department for $2,002,721.00. To 9-1-1 for $62,836.50 and to EMA $283.759.50 for a total of $2,349,317.00.
• Approved Jason Westcott as designee to request division assistance and assets for fire suppression in Union County. See: Resolution #2025 – Wildland Fire Division Designee
• Listened to department head reports from Director of Equalization, Sherri Bousquet; Director of Planning and Zoning, Dennis Henze; Extension Agent, Shawn Tabke; and Public Building and Grounds Supervisor, Scott Sexton. Evidently, the information presented by the department heads wasn’t important enough to include in the minutes of the Feb. 4 meeting – or the information is so sensitive the commissioners didn’t want to include it just in case it might upset county citizens. One never knows about these things.
• Met with County Highway Superintendent Jerry Buum “to discuss various matters”, according to the board’s published minutes. Apparently, few of the matters warranted being published in the board’s minutes. That said, the five commissioners did agree to enter a joint agreement with 16 other counties, “to advertise bids to complete our pavement marking jobs. MC 25-02 Southeast SD County Striping Project is the official nom du project (Fr).
• Decided to conduct an archeological study with Ulteig Operations, LLC. Once again we have a dearth of detail in the minutes.
• Met with Sheriff Prouty “to discuss various matters.” Holy Water-Walking Jesus! What’s with these “various matters”? Is there a special code book somewhere in the courthouse where one can access what they are, or get an interpretation? I know, I didn’t attend the meeting in person. Neither does the local paper. At least the commissioners should provide just a bit more information so they don’t look like they’re trying to hide something. Sheesh!
• State’s Attorney Kathy Zenner met with the commissioners to discuss those darned various matters again. At least Zenner brought along someone for show and tell. Rob Marlow was at the meeting. He is from the Diversion Program and introduced himself to the commissioners. Marlow talked about how the Diversion Program is helping juveniles in Union County. He works directly with Zenner to determine which individuals would benefit from his program.
• The five commissioners approved a whole mess of claims presented to them. You should check the online copy of the minutes for a detailed list of them. But here are a few of them for your reading and dancing pleasure. Care of Poor: $990.03. Beresford Faith in Action (Allotment): $600.00 What the heck is this? It certainly looks like a church-based organization. I don’t think the county government should be giving money to a church organization. Jerry Miller (Pub Def): $6,714.43 What? I thought he was long gone. John Graham (Bucking Ponies) $4,750.00.

Well now, in reviewing the county commissioner’s minutes of their Feb. 4 regular meeting it appears we’ve just about covered everything in general. One may have to assume the board covered some regular procedures and items even though they aren’t stated in these unapproved minutes that are posted online.

For instance, the governmental body’s standing and reciting the loyalty pledge to the Good Ol’ USA wasn’t mentioned. Nothing is mentioned about there being any conflicts of interest among the board members, which I believe is a state law. Neither was anything mentioned about public input or community members present and sharing information (although this is nothing new).

One of what appears to be a glaring issue with the county commissioners is the addition of agenda items on the day of or during the meeting. In this case, there was a motion to add Weed Board Township Fees to the meeting’s agenda. There was also a motion to add the Resolution of the Wildland Fire Division Designee to new business on the agenda. Both of these items were made during the meeting before the agenda was approved. Then the agenda was approved with the additional items.

The problem appears to be that by adding these items on the day of the board’s meeting, the commission fails to give the public adequate notice of 48 hours. They may, in fact, be violating South Dakota’s open meetings laws by failing to provide 48 hours notice for these additional items.

It would be helpful if the commissioners sought the advice of the county state’s attorney in the matter. If she is uncertain, then the S.D. Attorney General’s office should be consulted.

The next county commissioners’ meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 8:30 a.m.

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