Report: Kristi Noem's daughter got preferential treatment in real estate appraiser program

A daughter of Gov. Kristi Noem received preferential treatment as she progressed through a real estate appraiser licensing program administered by the state.

That's one of the takeaways from a five-page report adopted Wednesday with unanimous consent by a legislative panel that spent months vetting allegations of abuse of power against the Republican governor and bottlenecks in the South Dakota Department of Labor Appraiser Certification Program.

"I’m satisfied the information gathered by GOAC painted an accurate picture of what occurred,” Government Audit and Operations Committee co-chairman Randy Gross, R-Elkton, told the Argus Leader Tuesday.

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The report outlines findings of facts compiled by the committee during a series of meetings that included formal testimony from Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman as well as the former director of the appraiser program, Sherry Bren.

Bren told the committee in December that she was forced to retire in March 2021, four months after Noem's daughter, Kassidy Peters, had been certified as a state appraiser.

According to the report, Peters had been struggling to obtain certification in spring 2020 when "an agreed disposition" had outlined additional training work necessary for her to obtain her appraiser's license.

That's when Noem's cabinet began involving itself in Peters' path to certification. 

"DLR Secretary Hultman changed the disposition agreement and removed the requirement for additional course training," reads the report. "This was the first time the DLR Secretary inserted herself into any disposition agreement."

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Still, a pending denial notice was sent to Peters on July 20, 2020. A week later, Bren was ordered to attend the meeting at the Governor's Mansion and to bring with her examples of specific errors found in Peters' work product, criteria used to determine the errors and "specific training/next steps are recommended for Kassidy, so she is able to pass?" the report reads.

Less than two weeks later, a "stipulation agreement" was entered into between DLR and Peters outlining those next steps. The pending notice of denial was rescinded.

"The stipulation agreement, in essence, gave Kassidy Peters a third chance to pass the level of certification she was trying to attain," the report reads. "This is outside of the requirements. Kassidy Peters should have waited the required six months and reapplied for this level."

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Bren, who received $200,000 in a wrongful termination settlement with the state preceding her formal retirement, told the committee in December she was forced out of her job after 30 years as an employee of the state.

Peters is no longer a certified real estate appraiser in South Dakota.

The Department of Labor and Regulation did not respond to request for comment.

The report, adopted unanimously by the Republican-controlled 10-member panel, finalizes GOAC's work regarding nepotism claims. A subsequent investigation into the allegations of nepotism and abuse of power by the Government Accountability Board is pending.

"I’m hopeful that the Government Accountability Board will use this as a worthwhile tool in there deliberations,” said Gross, who declined to say if he thought the report is damning for the administration.

Despite the findings in the report, Gov. Noem in a statement issued to the Argus Leader Wednesday maintained her nor her administration did anything wrong in its handling for Peters' appraisal certification.

"Kassidy followed the same process as other applicants did to obtain her license. She did not receive preferential treatment," she said, referencing others enrolled in the appraiser certification program since summer 2020 who have also been provided a third opportunity to complete course work.

The governor also contends that despite GOAC's report outlining breaks in protocol becoming final this week, "the Legislature found no wrongdoing in their review, which concluded in December.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Panel: Kristi Noem's daughter got preferential treatment in program