Judge reluctant to adjudicate Yankton County GOP dispute

Current GOP officials sued over $12,000 transfer

A dispute involving members of the Yankton County Republican Party and $12,000 that was transferred out of the party’s account cannot be resolved in court because the court lacks jurisdiction to decide the case.

That’s an opinion rendered by First Circuit Judge Cheryle Gering in a lawsuit brought by the Yankton County Republican Party against three of its former committee members. In an opinion written last week to lawyers in the case, Gering notes that courts have typically steered clear of inner-party political squabbles. The exception, she noted, was in situations where political parties could interfere with voting rights or the ability of someone to run for office.

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“In the case before this court, the litigation does not involve the right to vote or the right of someone to run for or hold public office,” Gering wrote. “Instead, this is a dispute between current and former members of the Yankton County Republican Party Central Committee in regard to the transfer of funds by former members of the county Central Committee to a political action committee these three individuals formed.”

The lawsuit brought by current members of the party argued that former Central Committee members Duane Becker, Roger Meyer and Greg Adamson violated party bylaws when they transferred the money.

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