Attorney General Jackley Announces DCI Investigation Into Edmunds County Commission Candidate Referred to Department of Revenue

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Sept. 11, 2026

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878 

PIERRE, S.D. -- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conducted a review into discrepancies involving Juliane Burgod’s nominating petition for county commission in Edmunds County and her owner-occupied tax status. DCI’s role was to determine whether a false or forged document may have been filed in connection with an election. The findings from that review have been forwarded to the South Dakota Department of Revenue for its consideration regarding the owner‑occupied status of one of the listed addresses.

The matter was referred to the Attorney General’s Office by Edmunds County State’s Attorney Vaughn Beck, who reported that the candidate’s petition address appeared to conflict with the address listed for her owner‑occupied tax status.

South Dakota Codified Law 7-8-2 requires that county commissioners be registered to vote within the district in which they are nominated.

Beck requested DCI’s involvement because of a conflict of interest related to Burgod’s potential position as a county commissioner.

Attorney General Jackley emphasized that DCI’s review was limited solely to the potential filing of a false or forged document as it pertained to an election and was unrelated to any agricultural project or policy issue. After completing its review, DCI transferred the materials to the Department of Revenue for further examination under South Dakota’s Owner-Occupied tax classification laws.

“As Attorney General, I remain committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections,” said Attorney General Jackley.  “To categorize DCI’s involvement in this matter as anything other than preserving the legitimacy of our elections is simply untrue.”

Neither the Attorney General’s Office nor DCI has any pending action involving Ms. Burgod.  Because the issue appears to be one of owner-occupied tax status rather than election fraud it has been referred to the Department of Revenue that maintains that jurisdiction.

The Attorney General’s letter to Ms. Burgod can be found here: 

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