Karr appoints himself to Capitol restoration panel

Yahoo

08-05-2025

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Turns out that a state lawmaker's first meeting last month as a member of the panel that decides how the South Dakota Capitol looks also was her last.
Republican Sen. Helene Duhamel has received an official letter telling her that she no longer has a seat on the Capitol Complex Restoration and Beautification Commission.
Taking her place is Republican Sen. Chris Karr.
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The same man who, as the Senate's president pro tem, happens to hold the authority under state law to decide who among the Senate's 35 members should be on the commission.
If that's not unusual enough, there's more.
The commission met on April 16. By some unexplained coincidence, the letter to Duhamel, telling her she was done, also happened to be dated April 16.
The letter surprised Duhamel. She said Karr never called her. As to why he chose himself, she can only guess.
The commission's meeting was its first since a year ago. The Legislature in 2024 passed a law adding two seats, one for a member of the House and one for a member of the Senate.
Republican Lee Schoenbeck, who was Senate president pro tem last year and didn't seek re-election, appointed Duhamel to the Senate seat.
Karr, who was chosen by the other senators as their president pro tem this year, said he somehow mistakenly reappointed Duhamel.
He told KELOLAND News on Wednesday he wasn't quite sure how the slipup occurred.
'I get these sheets, and it says, here's a list of all the appointments you have to make, and I got that right away at the beginning of session,' Karr said. 'And throughout session, I was trying to figure out each of those things.
'And I guess at some point in the process, I had told Rachael (Person, chief of legislative operations) that I was just going to leave that one alone. But then when I submitted the paper, I forgot that I did that, because I asked and called Rachael, and she goes, 'No, you told me that you were going to leave it,'' he continued. 'So it is my fault if there is confusion on this. A lot of moving parts during session, and I was — I guess I didn't recall that conversation. I don't know what happened. I'll own it.'
So why wasn't he at the commission meeting?
'I wasn't at the meeting because I hadn't been notified that, because normally when you appoint, you get this e-mail letter saying, Hey, you're on this thing and here's what it is and here's what it's going to be, and I never received that,' Karr said.
During the meeting, the commission decided how it would spend $3 million that the Legislature had appropriated this year for fixing up the Capitol: $300,000 to $500,000 for plastering and painting; $1.3 million to renovate the stained glass above the rotunda on the interior of the Capitol's dome; and $1.2 million for a long-term renovation plan.
The commission's other legislative member, House Speaker Jon Hansen, wanted the panel to wait so he could hear from other lawmakers. Duhamel disagreed and said the commission should proceed.
Duhamel thought that her disagreement with Hansen perhaps led to her removal. But Karr in the interview with KELOLAND News sounded unaware.
How would Karr have voted, had he been there?
'I don't know all the details of what they considered. I haven't gone back and listened to it. I haven't had a chance,' he said.
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