Former Gov. Kristi Noem’s rise to national prominence that began five years ago came with a sharp increase in travel around the country.
But the spotlight had a cost.
For Noem, who was in demand as a speaker at conservative events and campaign rallies in addition to state-related business, that meant spending more than $300,000 on plane tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms for a security detail.
That price tag was the major portion of approximately $750,000 charged by the governor’s office to two taxpayer-backed credit cards.
That’s according to an analysis of thousands of pages of credit card receipts and statements reviewed by The Dakota Scout and Sioux Falls Live. The two media organizations reviewed Noem’s credit card records after State Auditor Rich Sattgast released them to settle a lawsuit brought by The Scout.
Noem-era holdovers still working in the Governor’s Office have noted that others – not just the former governor – accounted for those expenses. Beyond charges on the state-issued cards, Noem also incurred travel expenses not covered by the state, but rather with political campaign funds, her personal finances or other means. Those expenses aren’t publicly reported.
The security details provided by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety accounted for some of the most costly credit card expenses.
The full tally to taxpayers isn’t known. DPS employees traveling on state business receive their salaries – information not included in the credit card records.
That out-of-state travel took the former governor, staff and security details to locations around the country, including to luxury resorts hosting both official and political events. And records show Noem took security with her to Paris in 2023. Earlier that year, she went to Canada on a hunting trip, where she posed on social media with a shot bear at a time when her name was floated as the next head of the National Rifle Association.
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Precise costs of the governor’s six years in office have not yet been calculated, a result of credit card statements and thousands of scanned receipts that are often unreadable. A comparison of the records and invoices also found dozens of incidents of missing receipts and duplicated credit card statements.
However, at a minimum, the former governor and her staff spent $131,343 going to events in the nation’s capital – a destination frequented by nationally known politicians for campaign and policy purposes.
Nearly $110,000 more tallied in Florida included dozens of charges in Palm Beach, home of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club. Charges in Las Vegas accounted for another $37,000. There, Noem and staff frequently stayed at The Venetian Resort.
Trips to Texas and Ohio – the home state of allies to former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski – also cost South Dakota taxpayers.
According to the office of Noem’s successor, Gov. Larry Rhoden, traveling in an official capacity or for personal or political purposes is of no consequence to the level of security provided.
“The governor’s security is always a matter of state business no matter where the governor may be, and the level of that security is not up to the governor,” said Josie Harms, a spokeswoman for Rhoden, who took over for Noem when she was confirmed as secretary of Homeland Security. “We are not going to comment on security specifics.”
While acknowledging the importance of protecting state leaders, top Republicans in the Legislature aren’t so sure being governor should come with a blank check for travel.
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“I don’t really know what’s in place to govern the cost of security for the governor,” said Sen. Chris Karr, a Sioux Falls Republican who serves as the Senate’s president pro tempore. “If that’s at the governor’s discretion, I would hope they would use wise and conservative discretion because that’s what the people of South Dakota want.”
House Speaker Jon Hansen said there should be a balance.
“I think it’s important the governor is protected by security threats,” said Hansen, who added that most people think that’s a reasonable expense. “Now, how much that costs, I don’t know.”
But Rep. Erin Healy, the Democratic minority leader in the state House, said the burden Noem’s travel placed on taxpayers is disappointing, particularly as lawmakers this year grapple with budget shortfalls.
“We’re sitting here right now having conversations about, ‘do vets get funding?’” she said.
In her first year in office, Noem’s travel pattern looked much like her predecessor’s, former Gov. Dennis Daugaard. Most of the out-of-state travel expenses on her credit card were for official meetings, such as the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association and the Republican Governors Association. In one of her first official trips, she traveled to Connecticut to take part in a commissioning ceremony for the U.S.S. South Dakota, a new attack submarine.
Then came 2020 and the COVID pandemic. Like travel across the United States, Noem’s stopped.
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Records show charges to an NGO conference in early February 2020. And then, virtually nothing. But on July 3, 2020, Noem hosted Trump for a Mount Rushmore Independence Day fireworks show. Noem accompanied Trump and touted her hands-off approach to the pandemic to a national audience.
By mid-August of that year, the records show that she was traveling again, with charges made for security details in Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Lodging alone for the details on those trips in the final half of August exceeded $10,500.
By then, Noem had become the face of “freedom” for people across the country who opposed COVID lockdowns.
With her star rising nationally, Noem was frequently out of the state. She campaigned to get Trump re-elected in 2020, defending it at the time by saying she was trying to protect South Dakotans from Democratic policy decisions.
In subsequent years, she made frequent political-related trips to events, with taxpayers paying the cost, particularly for security. In 2019, the records indicate that details cost taxpayers a little over $7,000. By 2024, taxpayers paid nearly $97,000 for Noem’s security.
Her support and time for the once-and-future president paid off. Noem was confirmed as secretary of Homeland Security and resigned the governorship on Jan. 25. In the early days of the new administration, she has continued to draw media attention by accompanying ICE agents in a raid in New York City and stepping across the United States border in Vermont and declaring Canada “the 51st state.”
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To Hansen, Noem’s notoriety has brought value to the state that saw tens of thousands of new arrivals since the pandemic.
“Was she a good ambassador for South Dakota? I think that’s true,” Hansen said, adding that he’s encountered out-of-state residents who rave about Noem, citing her approach to governing during the COVID era.
Healy, though, said her persistent out-of-state travel went beyond benefiting her constituents at home.
“When you are working for the state of South Dakota and you’re constantly gone from the state, how can you possibly get good work done?” she said. “How are you responding to your constituents?”
The Trust Project
