UPDATE JANUARY 4, 2022:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The director of a South Dakota agency has resigned amid scrutiny over Gov. Kristi Noem’s hands-on role in the agency prior to his arrival and as it evaluating her daughter’s real estate appraiser license in 2020. Scott Amundson took over as head of the state’s Appraiser Certification Program last summer. He says he resigned but declined to publicly comment on his reasons for doing so. Amundson replaced the longtime director of the Appraiser Certification Program, Sherry Bren, after she was pressured to retire by Noem’s cabinet secretary. The episode has drawn criticism from government ethics experts. Amundson had no role at the agency during the time that a legislative committee has focused on.
DECEMBER 14, 2021:
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The former director of a South Dakota appraiser agency says Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration departed from established practice and gave an extra opportunity to the governor’s daughter to get her real estate appraiser license. Sherry Bren’s testimony before a joint legislative panel examining the state’s appraiser certification program is the first time that Bren has spoken in depth in public about a meeting in the governor’s mansion last year since The Associated Press first reported on it in September 2021. The meeting occurred in July 2020, a week after the agency notified Peters that her application did not meet federal requirements and was headed for denial.
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