SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Friday announced the retirement of a Cabinet secretary who she suspended amid an investigation into complaints of low employee morale and sexual harassment at the State Penitentiary.
Noem last month suspended Secretary of Corrections Mike Leidholt within hours of being briefed on a human resources review of an anonymous complaint that alleged supervising corrections officers at the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls regularly sexually harassed their fellow employees. The governor has fired the warden, deputy warden and the director of a prison work program. She also hired a third party to review the prison system and indicated she intends to push for widespread changes.
“While it is now clear the issues at the Penitentiary were the responsibility of others, I believe new leadership is needed to address the ongoing challenges in our prison system,” the governor said in a statement announcing Leidholt’s retirement.
Leidholt was previously the Hughes County Sheriff and president of the South Dakota Sheriff’s Association.