Governor Dennis Daugaard announced yesterday that he is appointing Madison High School graduate and former Sioux Falls police chief Doug Barthel to fill the District 10 House seat vacated by Don Haggar, who has gone on to make more money promoting corporate fascism on the Koch Brothers’ dime.
By my count from the state’s historical listing of statehood legislators, Barthel is the 89th person appointed to a Legislative vacancy since statehood and the 14th appointed by Governor Dennis Daugaard. Barring other changes, Barthel will be one of nine Daugaard appointees sitting in the 2018 Legislative Session. A tenth beneficiary of luck and gubernatorial largesse, Rep. Kristin Conzet, was originally appointed by Governor M. Michael Rounds in 2009.
| Name | District | appointed to | date | replacing | appointed by | still serving |
| David L. Anderson | 16 | House | May 13, 2013 | Patty Miller | Daugaard | yes |
| Kristin Conzet | 32 | House | December 1, 2009 | Brian Dreyer | Rounds | yes |
| R. Blake Curd | 12 | Senate | June 5, 2013 | Mark Johnston | Daugaard | yes |
| Scott Fiegen | 25 | House | May 6, 2015 | Tim Rave | Daugaard | no |
| Chuck Jones | 8 | Senate | December 17, 2013 | Russ Olson | Daugaard | no |
| Kent Juhnke | 21 | Senate | November 17, 2011 | Cooper Garnos | Daugaard | no |
| Kris Langer | 25 | House | August 15, 2013 | Jon Hansen | Daugaard | yes (Senate) |
| David Lust | 34 | House | November 18, 2016 | Dan Dryden | Daugaard | yes |
| Dave Scott | 21 | House | November 17, 2011 | Kent Juhnke | Daugaard | no |
| William Shorma | 16 | Senate | April 30, 2015 | Dan Lederman | Daugaard | no |
| Alan Solano | 32 | Senate | January 13, 2014 | Stan Adelstein | Daugaard | yes |
| Wayne Steinhauer | 9 | House | November 19, 2015 | Steve Hickey | Daugaard | yes |
| Marli Wiese | 8 | House | January 31, 2017 | Mathew Wollmann | Daugaard | yes |
| Mark Willadsen | 11 | House | June 16, 2014 | Christine Erickson | Daugaard | yes |
| Doug Barthel | 10 | House | September 2, 2017 | Don Haggar | Daugaard | yes |
Daugaard now has the second most legislative appointments under his belt, behind only Bill Janklow, who named 20 legislators. Of course, Janklow had four terms over sixteen years to fill Legislative vacancies, and Daugaard is only in his second term/seventh year as Governor.
| Governor | appointments |
| Janklow | 20 |
| Daugaard | 14 |
| Gubbrud | 11 |
| Kneip | 9 |
| Mickelson fils | 9 |
| Farrar | 8 |
| Rounds | 7 |
| Boe | 4 |
| Foss | 2 |
| Mickelson père | 2 |
| Miller | 2 |
| Herseth | 1 |
It was a mini scandal inside the SFPD when Lieutenant Barthel was promoted to Chief of Police over a whole bunch of captains who were salivating for the position. He was a good Chief and an all around good guy. That said…all these appointees. Is it any wonder we are one of the most corrupt states in the nation? It makes me sad to think of Barthel as now part of it.
I, for one, think these positions might just go vacant for a long period of time. Let us face it. The majority of the legislatures are insaner than most and the fewer of them that there are the less dumb ideas get floated at the moon.
The fact that people quit the legislature before their terms are up suggests that theses positions are not as lucrative as the corruption conspiracy theorists believe.
If I had a part time job that came with gold watches, lobster dinners, kickbacks, luxurious travel and all the other perks the legislators are accused of receiving, I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
Ms. Beal … As much as you are a true South Dakota treasure, lately you’ve taken a bit to exaggerating. But, you certainly deserve the benefit of the doubt. Please document where legislators were accused of receiving gold watches, lobster dinners, luxurious travel and all the other perks by a valid critic. Not an anonymous hack on a blog but a known and believable source. Thanks in advance, ma’am.
You sure do like apologizing for the corrupt status quo, don’t you, Anne?
The vacancy Barthel fills shows one aspect of the corruption problem. Haggar left the Legislature because the Koch Brothers bought him out. Haggar left early specifically so he could beat the new IM22-inspired law expanding the revolving-door waiting period from one year to two years. Americans for Prosperity will now be able to cash in on Haggar’s Pierre connections by the end of June 2018 instead of 2019.
http://www.capjournal.com/news/im-supporters-upset-about-gold-watch-photo/article_f0665518-f346-11e6-a0a9-ebfe370db5e5.html
Frank Farrar got to appoint 8 legislators in his single 2-year term as governor. That’s quite a turnover between elections.
Hmm… what might have provoked such turnover in the 1969–1970 term?
Looking at Farrar’s appointments…
David Billion resigned right after winning the 1970 election for “business considerations.” Tom Young died on Thanksgiving 1970. Ellen Bliss won the 1968 election but declined to serve, accepting instead an appointment to the State Welfare Commission. William Clayton stepped out when he was appointed U.S. Attorney. Robert Hirsch resigned from the Senate in 1969, but I can’t find a reason. (He did run for U.S. Senate in 1972 and lost to Abourezk.) D.O. Dillavou died in a car wreck days before the 1968 election. Morris Hallock resigned from Legislature to accept Farrar’s nomination as highway director. Charles Droz resigned to become state administrator of the Agricultural Conservation and Stabilization Service.
So out of eight Farrar-era vacancies, two came from deaths, and four came from appointments to higher office.
One cannot help but wonder if an increasingly appointed legislature under Daugaard plays a role in the “House of Lords” mentality of our current state legislature…… It most likely does….. Peerage is always the greatest enemy of any democratic people….
I also think the great turnover speaks to a growing less commitment to sincere governance by our dominant political party in this state as well, which I guess explains why many of our GOP legislators have to research bills in front of their constituents before answering questions about the bills….. (Crickets anyone? Or is it, “Cricket,” the game members of the House of Lords often like to play?)
Speaking of Farrar, there was a lot of division within the SD GOP back in 1969-70 due partially to Farrar’s position on REA. Farrar was only one of two of the total 27 Republican governors from our state to not be re-elected, I believe. Farrar even had a primary opponent in June of 1970, who received 40% of the vote. This division might have led to the high number of resignations, or the actual appointments might have lead to greater party division as well, who knows…..? (It’s time for Troy and Lee to chime-in ;-) )