Woman commuted by Noem worked in governor's mansion, has pending DUI charge

Tammy Kvasnicka was on parole, had active warrant at time of 2010 fatal crash

One of six women who had their prison sentences commuted by Gov. Kristi Noem spent years working in the governor’s mansion ahead of her release from the Pierre Women’s Prison this week, an investigation by The Dakota Scout has confirmed.

And it’s unclear whether the governor at the time of the commutation was aware that Tammy Kvasnicka, 40, has an unresolved felony DUI charge out of Faulk County that occurred prior to the fatal 2010 crash that sent her back to prison.

Kvasnicka was behind the wheel of a high-profile DUI crash in Sioux Falls that killed a 28-year-old man.

According to sources within the Department of Corrections and former inmates at the Women’s Prison in Pierre, Kvasnicka began performing community service work at the governor’s mansion in 2016 during former Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s tenure. She continued working there until her commutation was handed down on Christmas Eve.

NEWS: A closer look at the crimes of some of the women Gov. Kristi Noem commuted on Christmas Eve