Marty Jackley

Marty Jackley wants to represent South Dakota in Congress, but in our experience, his office has failed to represent citizens here at home.

For years, we have sought clear answers regarding our road district and its use of a “special maintenance fee” that appears unsupported by South Dakota law.

Under SDCL 31-12A, a road district may impose:
• a levy
• and/or a special assessment

What the statute does NOT mention is a “special maintenance fee.”

Under Dillon’s Rule, local governments possess only the powers expressly granted by law. If the legislature did not authorize road districts to impose this type of fee, then where does the authority come from?

Despite repeated requests for clarification, the Attorney General’s office has avoided providing a written opinion. When responses did come, they were phone calls — conversations that leave no public record and no accountability.

Meanwhile, county auditors and state’s attorneys continue accepting these fees, in our county and possibly others, as though legality is irrelevant once a practice has gone on long enough.

Citizens should not have to beg for transparency from the very offices tasked with upholding the law.

If the law authorizes these fees, show us the statute.

If it does not, then the people of South Dakota deserve honesty about that too.

Public trust depends on equal application of the law — not silence when the questions become uncomfortable.