A former state employee faces criminal charges for allegedly forging and falsifying reports of food-service health inspections she never conducted, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced Tuesday.
Renee Lynn Strong, 55, of Springfield was indicted Tuesday on 26 forgery-related charges carrying a maximum combined sentence of up to 91 years in prison and up to $182,000 in fines, Jackley said.
Strong allegedly filed food-service health inspection reports without actually inspecting the businesses between February and June of this year. Five impacted businesses including bars, restaurants and other businesses serving food cooperated with the investigation, said Jackley, who believes there may have been more forgeries than investigators have found so far. Jackley said the businesses are not suspected of wrongdoing.
Strong was paid for the inspections with state funding, Jackley said. He did not disclose the cost to taxpayers.
Strong worked for the state Department of Public Safety as an inspector for a year, Jackley said. The department has a contract to provide inspections for the state Department of Health. Strong made $24.96 hourly, according to the state financial website Open SD.
This is the fourth case of alleged state employee criminal activity that Jackleys office has prosecuted this year, after two former Department of Revenue employees were accused in a false vehicle titling scheme and a retired Department of Social Services employee was accused of stealing $1.8 million by creating and approving fraudulent child support orders. Yet another recent case of a state employee allegedly falsifying vehicle titles did not result in prosecution because the accused woman is deceased.
More potential criminal cases involving state employees are being investigated, Jackley said.
In the new case, a state employee tipped off Jackleys office through its Consumer Protection office in October. Strong is being held on 13 felony counts of forgery and 13 felony counts of offering false or forged instruments for filing or recording in a public office. Her bail is set at $1,000.
Jackley proposes legislation
This case cries out, Jackley says, for a legislative solution. He plans to introduce a legislative package in January requiring state employees to notify the Attorney Generals Office of suspected felonies, expanding whistleblower protections, increasing transparency and strengthening the states auditing process by giving additional powers to the Internal Control Board.
There are clearly some problems in state government, or the attorney general wouldnt have brought four different charging documents, he said.
Jackley said increased attention on state accountability led to the whistleblower tip and Tuesdays indictment. State department heads have also said they plan to strengthen internal controls to catch potential fraud. Gov. Kristi Noem recently added an internal control officer position to the executive branch and ordered state employees to undergo annual training aimed at preventing criminal activity.
Vehicle title cases
Lynne Hunsley and Danielle Degenstein, former Department of Revenue employees, were charged in late October.
Hunsley, accused of using a fake vehicle title to secure bank loans and duck state excise taxes, is out of custody on a $500 cash bond. Degenstein is out on a $100 cash bond for allegedly failing to report the situation and cooperate with law enforcement.
Trial dates for the two ex-revenue employees have yet to be set.
The Government Operations and Audit Committee subpoenaed Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and Motor Vehicle Division head Rosa Yaeger to testify in a closed-door session at the committees meeting last week. But the two are fighting the subpoena in court, and the committees meeting was canceled.
Embezzlement case scheduled for trial
Former Department of Social Services employee Lonna Carroll remains in custody on a $50,000 cash or surety bond. Carroll is accused of embezzling $1.8 million from the state by creating and approving fraudulent financial support orders for children from 2010 through 2023.
Prosecutors have filed several pre-trial motions. One signals their intent to produce evidence that Carroll allegedly lived beyond her means, such as comments from coworkers who said she never wore the same outfit twice and that at least one retail establishment knew her as such a reliable customer that shed get calls when new inventory arrived.
Carroll is represented by a court-appointed attorney. According to her application for that attorney, Carroll had about $3,000 to her name when she was arrested over the summer, had $50,000 in investments, $103,000 in real estate assets and $10,000 worth of household goods. A hand-written note on the application reads receive retirement but accts are suspended, suggesting she isnt able to access pay from the state employee retirement system.
Defendants are expected to repay attorney fees fronted to them during a criminal proceeding, though in many cases they cannot.
In addition to the yet-uncalculated attorney fees, Hughes County is currently on the hook for up to $18,500 in expert witness fees. A judge has granted Carrolls attorneys requests to pay up to $3,500 for a private investigator, up to $5,000 for a mental health expert and up to $10,000 for a forensic auditor, all to aid in her defense.
The trial is set to begin April 1.
South Dakota Searchlights John Hult contributed to this article.
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