Majority of Noem’s Unreviewed Commutees Reoffend

In further evidence of Kristi Noem’s lack of good judgment, South Dakota Searchlight finds that the majority of offenders who received the Governor’s unusual, unreviewed commutations have gotten into new trouble with the law:

…with 19 of the commutations she signed, Noem did something no governor had done in roughly two decades since former Gov. Bill Janklow: issue them to inmates who lacked an endorsement from the board.

Since then, the 12 people who have been accused of new crimes have largely faced drug charges. Seven of the charges were felonies.

Meanwhile, five of the eight people whose commutations from Noem were screened by the board have since been released. Of those five, one has been charged with a new crime.

…Her office issued a press release in 2022 about the seven commutations she’d issued on Christmas Eve. South Dakota Searchlight soon learned she’d gone around the board, that victims’ families were not notified, and that one person who was released early had been denied a recommendation by the board.

…Noem talked about the commutations in her State of the State address in January 2024, saying the people “qualified” for a commutation, and that “we will continue to evaluate these second-chance opportunities for those who can prove they deserve them” [John Hult, “More Than Half the Inmates Noem Released Early Without Parole Board Review Have Been Recharged,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.05.16].

This sounds familiar…

At least 33 January 6th insurrectionists pardoned by President Trump have been rearrested, charged or sentenced for other crimes since January 6, 2021, according to new analysis by CREW. Four pardoned insurrectionists have allegedly reoffended since receiving their pardons. Several have argued that the pardon should cover unrelated criminal convictions, and in one case last month, Trump explicitly re-pardoned one insurrectionist for his unrelated weapons charges.

…When individuals are pardoned, there is no traditional monitoring or parole process, which heightens public safety risks. One victim of a pardoned insurrectionist spoke to CBS News in February about her fears, saying “I’m just afraid that I’m going to come home from work one night and he’s going to be right there” [Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel, Sophia Barriga Hernandez, and Alyssa Meiman, “At Least 33 Pardoned Insurrectionists Face Other Criminal Charges—But Many Are Now Going Free,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 2025.12.18].

We can at least be glad Noem is no longer in charge of Homeland Security; she made South Dakota less secure by turning criminals loose on her own unreviewed whim, only to see a majority of her favored hoodlums make more trouble.