Gov. Kristi Noem calls on Biden Administration to audit tribal finances

Government, tribes need to know law enforcement needs

(Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

Gov. Kristi Noem asked the Biden Administration Tuesday to conduct a financial audit of South Dakota’s nine tribes to determine how they are using federal resources and their role with law enforcement.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, Noem accused the Biden Administration of failing to meet the public safety needs of Indian Country. She noted that the Oglala Sioux Tribe took 165,799 emergency calls among 33 officers and eight investigators in the last fiscal year.

She also noted that tribes received billions in pandemic relief funding, and she called for audits into how that money was spent.

“An audit provides assurance that adequate internal controls are in place and the recipient complies with program requirements to continue their eligibility to receive grants, direct payments and even loans,” Noem wrote. “If single audits of these tribes have been regularly occurring, it is not transparent as single audits are not publicly available.”

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