Noem asks Biden Administration for audits of South Dakota’s nine tribes

March 27, 2024

PIERRE, S.D.–Governor Kristi Noem is asking the Biden Administration to conduct public and comprehensive single audits of all federal funds that have been given to South Dakota’s nine Native American tribes.

The primary purpose of the audit would be to verify the need for additional law enforcement resources from the federal government on those tribal reservations.

In her request, Governor Noem said, “law enforcement in Indian Country is failing to meet basic safety needs. For years, the level of actual funding drastically underestimates the true breadth of the challenges of Indian Country, made worse by the failed border policies of the Biden Administration and exacerbated by the presence of drug cartel operations on South Dakota tribal reservations.”

The letter was sent to among others, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.