Health inspector who submitted fake reports pleads guilty to felonies

Authorities say Renee Strong had financial incentive to submit bogus food inspections

One of about a half-dozen state employees implicated in official misconduct for various offenses pleaded guilty Tuesday to four forgery-related charges.

Renee Strong pleaded guilty in Hughes County Circuit Court to two class-6 felonies of offering false or forged instruments for filing or recording in a public office and two class-5 felonies of forgery.

A grand jury indicted Strong in December on 13 class-5 felonies and 13 class-6 felonies related to her duties as a health inspector. Strong worked for the Department of Public Safety, but she was performing health inspections on behalf of the Department of Health, the department that regulates restaurants and other food service entities in most of the state. Sioux Falls performs its own inspections independent of the state.

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