SIOUX FALLS, SD (Dakota News Now) – As the investigation continues into false title within the South Dakota Department of Revenue, department leaders will soon be subpoenaed to testify before state lawmakers .

The Legislature’s Executive Council on Tuesday approved the Government Operations and Audit Committee’s (GOAC) request to subpoena Department of Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and Department of Motor Vehicles Director Rosa Yaeger.

A two-day GOAC hearing is scheduled for December 11-12 in Pierre.

The request for a subpoena follows a GOAC hearing last week where members of the Oversight Committee sought answers about changes and security measures implemented by the department after several investigations revealed schemes with false titles implicating three former employees. That hearing was held in executive session, during which DOR leaders declined to provide further details, citing ongoing criminal litigation.

“Essentially, we need to be able to conduct a legislative inquiry at the same time as the judiciary is also carrying out its duties,” Sen. David Wheeler (R-Huron), a GOAC member, testified Tuesday. “We have a session coming up in January. We need to know what corrective action, if any, the legislature should take. And it’s hard to do that when we can’t get direct information about what happened, why it happened, and what they did about it. »

Executive Council Chairman Sen. Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown) echoed that sentiment, saying a state law dealing with open trial only applies to the attorneys involved, which in this case applies to the attorney general.

“It would be a dangerous precedent to allow the rules of professional conduct that apply to lawyers to interfere with the legislative process in almost every respect, except for lawyers involved in certain litigation. It ties them together,” Schoenbeck said. “But you would never want the Legislature to be in a situation where they couldn’t hold a hearing on a bill or an issue.”

Any further testimony from DOR leaders in December will likely take place behind closed doors in executive session.

The two-day hearing will begin with questions to the Department of Revenue on December 11. GOAC will also continue its investigation into the Department of Social Servicesfollowing an investigation that a former DSS stole $1.8 million from the state.

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