A central Minnesota dairy farmer is facing felony wage theft and racketeering charges over allegations that he underpaid and mistreated his migrant workers.

In a criminal complaint filed Monday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison alleges that Keith Lawrence Schaefer of Richmond, Minn., routinely withheld pay, including overtime, from at least 18 workers in violation of the state’s 2019 wage theft law.

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The South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee discussed Senate Bill 83 Thursday, which would reform the state’s drug ingestion law.

South Dakota remains the only state where illegal drug ingestion is classified as a felony under SDCL 22-42-5.1.

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A shortage of stenographers in South Dakota helped spur unanimous support in a legislative committee for a bill that would allow judges to decide if a stenographer is necessary in lower-level court hearings.

Stenographers, also called court reporters, are people who transcribe everything said in a court proceeding, using stenographic machines with specialized keyboards.

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Iowa may not enforce a 2024 state law that makes it a crime for a person who was previously deported to enter the state, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

A three-judge panel of the St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Iowa’s statute is likely preempted by federal immigration law, because enforcement of Iowa’s law would invade the U.S. government’s interest in enforcing federal immigration law.

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Legislation concerning open records and open meetings was a recurring topic this week in the South Dakota Legislature as lawmakers advanced bills that would open governors’ records sooner and require state and local boards to annually review open meetings laws.

A bill to open the calendars and appointment logs of officials was defeated in committee but is still technically alive due to a procedural maneuver, while another bill advanced by a committee would clarify the role of electronic communications in the open meetings laws.

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Proposed legislation aimed at protecting South Dakota farms from potential “agro-terrorism” activities could have a secondary effect of limiting access to information about the state’s largest animal feeding operations.

Senate Bill 14 seeks to strengthen a set of existing laws that make it a crime for anyone to steal farm animals, release animals, trespass on farms or interfere with farm operations.

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Iowa’s chief justice is calling on state lawmakers to make reforms to the judicial system this legislative session. In particular, she’s asking for changes when it comes to judicial pay and public defenders.

Before a joint session of the legislature Wednesday, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen laid out her vision to make the judicial system better in her Condition of the Judiciary address.

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South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley joins 17 other Attorneys General in supporting Louisiana’s law requiring all K-12 schools and state-funded universities to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

“The Ten Commandments already are displayed in the U.S. Supreme Court and other public buildings,” said Attorney General Jackley. “The Ten Commandments have influenced the creation of our nation and our rule of law.”

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South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley hopes to prevent and catch future criminal conduct by state employees with new reporting requirements, protections for whistleblowers and a bigger role for the state auditor, according to a package of legislation he released Tuesday.

Jackley unveiled seven bills for lawmakers to consider during the annual legislative session that kicks off next Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre.

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Nearly two-thousand South Dakota juveniles were successfully diverted from the state’s court system this year, according to a new report. A 2024 law has added fiscal incentive for counties to continue these diversion efforts. When low-risk youth are diverted from the court system, they are 45-percent less likely to reoffend, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Diversion can take many forms, from mural-painting to skateboarding programs. State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel in Pennington County, where diversion programs have been used for about 25 years, says they can help unveil the root cause of a child’s misbehavior.

Continue reading “A year of growth for diverting juveniles in SD” →