South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem seems to have found the perfect use of state prison labor: building a $ 9,000 black walnut wood desk and getting a discount.
This is the claim at the center of an investigation by Dakota News Now, which finds Noem’s support at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in disagreement with the work requested from Pheasantland Industries, the prison workshop.
After an initial investigation last year, Noem commissioned an 80-inch-long, 3-foot-wide black walnut desk in Pheasantland in April, allowing inmates to learn a 50-cent trade. hour. The order, which came from the governor’s office, called for basic desk clippings.
Then Noem wanted changes, according to unnamed correction sources quoted by Dakota News Now. He ordered an 80-inch extension to more than 100 to accommodate another person, forcing him to redesign the desk. He later requested other features, such as brass relief, a status map at the top, a footrest, and a weapon holder.
Some other inclusions were added — and hidden — by inmates on their own, according to news sources: the engraved signatures of those working at the desk, along with the name of a prison manager Noem fired. Noem fired Pheasantland director Stefany Bawek last month, though it’s unclear if it’s the registered name.
Pheasantland added the final construction to $ 9,000, but the according to reports, the interim secretary of corrections ordered them to discount the bill. This resulted in a loss of $ 3,000 in the prison workshop, with Dakota News Now reporting that the work of some inmates went from paid time to unspecified “training time” as a result. Pheasantland paid $ 8.20 per foot for the black walnut tables, but after the discount, Noem’s cost dropped to $ 2.02, according to the media.
Noem spokesman Ian Fury told the Associated Press that the initial cost of the desk was between $ 5,000 and $ 6,000 and denied that Noem got a discount. He insisted that Noem intended to pay the full cost once the final bill was received and taxpayers would not pay the bill.
“He wanted a new desk,” he said, adding that the big work could end up in his official office.
For Democratic Sen. Troy Heinert, the Democrat, the counter is just an unnecessary purchase, he told Dakota News Now that it was “worrying that the governor needs a $ 9,000 counter when many South Dakotas don’t have a $ 9,000 car.” .