South Dakota ethics board wants response from Noem by April

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota government accountability board has set an April deadline for Gov. Kristi Noem to respond to a pair of ethics complaints. The deadline given Thursday signals that the retired judges who make up the board believe the complaints from the state’s attorney general might have merit. Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, a Republican, has asked the board to consider two issues. One is whether Noem’s use of state airplanes broke the law, and the other is whether she improperly interfered with a state agency that was evaluating her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license. Noem insists she has done nothing wrong.