Torturing a companion animal will be charged as a felony in Iowa under a measure signed into law Monday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds, joined by lawmakers and advocates, signed House File 2348 into law at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa shelter in Des Moines. The law establishes a Class D felony charge for animal torture, defined as when a person “intentionally, willfully, and maliciously mutilates, burns, poisons, drowns, starves or causes intensive or prolonged pain or death to a companion animal, or provides anything of value to another person to do the same.”

Continue reading “Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law making animal torture a felony on first offense” →

Top Trump administration officials traveled to Minnesota on Thursday to announce federal criminal charges against 15 people for alleged fraud schemes targeting more than $90 million in Medicaid funds intended to help the state’s children, homeless and disabled.

The charges include the two largest Medicaid fraud cases ever brought in Minnesota, federal officials said, and represent a “shot across the bow” in Trump’s “war on fraud” largely targeting blue states.

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas has issued the first known criminal subpoena directed at a health care institution for offering gender-affirming care to transgender youth—at NYU Langone, a hospital situated almost 2,000 miles away in the greater New York City area.

The notification was sent to patients (and/or parents) via their online portal just after 7pm on May 11, as per screenshots obtained by Erin in the Morning. In a public statement, Langone indicated there were other health care institutions that received this kind of subpoena, too.

Continue reading “NYU Langone First Known Hospital to Face Federal Criminal Subpoena Over Trans Youth Care” →

South Dakota will hire more parole officers, expand monitoring to nights and weekends, and make it easier to send people on parole back to prison, Gov. Larry Rhoden announced this week.

Five parole officers will be assigned to an enhanced compliance unit, Rhoden announced in a Thursday news release, and five new officers will be hired to backfill those positions.

Continue reading “South Dakota governor pledges parole reform days after Sioux Falls officer is shot” →

South Dakota honored fallen officers during the state’s annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony in Pierre.

Attorney General Marty Jackley is encouraging South Dakotans to remember the officers who have died in the line of duty since 1884.

Continue reading “Annual event in Pierre recognizes more than 70 officers killed in line of duty” →

Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrated the approval of many of their priorities for the 2026 legislative session on issues including property taxes, crime and healthcare as lawmakers wrapped up their work for the year.

Over the weekend, lawmakers sent a $9.6 billion state budget to the governor’s desk, as well as legislation restricting access to abortion-inducing medication by requiring the drugs to be prescribed in person.

Continue reading “The 2026 legislative session is over. Here’s what passed, failed, and what is already Iowa law” →

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that the South Dakota Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and sentence of Lucian Celestine for attempted threat of felony terrorism. He had been convicted in Pennington County after making threats to President Donald Trump and taking steps toward carrying out those threats.

“Threats against the President of the United States and public officials are taken seriously,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We will continue to prosecute individuals who seek to harm or intimidate public officials and their families.”

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Two police officers involved in a shootout with a suspect in 2024 can have their names protected from public view to prevent someone from potentially locating or harassing the officer or their families, according to a ruling Thursday by the South Dakota Supreme Court that reversed a lower court’s decision.

Justices ruled that Marsy’s Law, a state constitutional amendment approved by South Dakota voters to protect victims of crimes, applies to police officers.

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Lawyers for the recently created Office of Indigent Legal Services delivered their first oral arguments before the South Dakota Supreme Court on Tuesday in Pierre.

It was a watershed moment for the state’s public defense agency, a $1.5 million, five-attorney operation that the state court system’s leaders expect to deliver a net savings to taxpayers and improved legal services for South Dakotans who have the right to a lawyer but can’t afford one.

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Early and absentee voting for the June 2 primary election will be delayed, several election officials in South Dakota said Wednesday.

Early voting is supposed to begin on Friday, but some county auditors across the state alerted the public this week of the delay. No one knew how long the delay will be, but said they hope it will not last longer than April 24.

The delay is due to a shortened window this year between the deadline for candidates to file their nominating petitions and the beginning of early voting.

Continue reading “Early voting for the June 2 election will be delayed, election officials say” →