SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — In May of 2023, Governor Kristi Noem announced the creation of a ‘whistleblower hotline’ which would be available for students, parents, taxpayers and faculty to call and complain about issues they have with the state’s public higher education institutions.
Within hours of the announcement, the hotline was inaccessible due to a full mailbox, though that was later emptied.
Callers to the hotline were met with a message thanking them “for calling the South Dakota Board of Regents whistleblower hotline.” This was despite the Board of Regents’ insistence that the hotline had nothing to do with them, and was fully managed by the Governor’s Office.
Noem’s announcement stated that her office will “use the information we learn to guide policy decisions moving forward,” though they did not respond to a request for an interview to explain how the information would be used, who would be listening to the calls, or how the complaints made in the calls would be vetted or verified.
On June 22, 2023, KELOLAND News reached out with a formal open records request, asking that the Governor’s Office provide records of all messages received by the tip-line and records of any response issued by the Office of the Governor to those who have called.
KELOLAND clarified in the request that we are not seeking identifying information of those who have called the hotline and that such information may be redacted or...
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