South Dakota Police Commission forgives Officers for Marijuana Usage

By John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight

The South Dakota Law Enforcement Officers Standards Commission, which is responsible for regulating law enforcement officers in South Dakota, offered two law enforcement candidates forgiveness on marijuana use Wednesday at Pierre.

Kody Beckers, a Parkston police officer, is now eligible to be certified in Minnesota despite pleading guilty seven years ago for THC wax in his first year of college. THC is the compound in marijuana that produces its high.

A future Roberts County deputy sheriff, on the other hand, was given a chance at certification, despite using a tribal medical cannabis card, which is not recognized by the State, to treat pain last summer with marijuana after a surgical procedure.

More than a dozen decisions were made on Wednesday by the commission regarding certification and recertification for officers, canine teams, and reciprocity between out-of state or Indian Country officers who seek certification in Washington.

In a number of these decisions, officers-to-be and their employers made brief appearances. Some decisions, like the recertification of canine units, were made in large numbers after staff runsdowns.

Minnesota crime considered

Kody Beckers, given the circumstances of his case, appeared before the commission in a hearing similar to that of a court.

Beckers received a plea agreement in Minnesota in 2015 for a crime of THC Wax Possession, which was a felony at the time in Minnesota and remains a criminal offense in South Dakota. People who plead to felonies in South Dakota are usually ineligible for law enforcement jobs.

In exchange for his admission of guilt, he was granted a stay in adjudication. This made him eligible to remove the conviction from his record following a successful probationary period. Beckers successfully completed probation and had the conviction removed from his record.

“I won’t make up an excuse. It was an error. Beckers said to commissioners, “I was in college my freshman year. Looking back, it was a blessing disguised for me. “I changed my entire act.”

Beckers earned his undergraduate degree from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall. He then worked as a certified nursing assistant for a time before deciding to return to college to earn a certification in law enforcement through Minnesota State Community and Technical College.

Beckers stated, “I wanted to be able to help people and achieve my sense of purpose.”

The Minnesota Tech education qualified him for law enforcement certification. However, the prior felony was an issue. Beckers was granted a variance by the Minnesota Police Officer Standards and Training Board, which would have allowed for him to become certified in this state.

After earning the variance, he was able to find a job in Parkston.

Beckers loves South Dakota, and he feels like he can make a difference as an officer. He told the commissioners that he had been able to find a man who was suspected of trafficking a girl of 14 years old during his five-month employment in Parkston.

He was placed on administrative leave as his reciprocity request was being reviewed in May. However, he stated that the city of Parkston had pledged to bring him back to work if the commission deemed it appropriate to certify him for employment in the state.

Beckers’ fitness to duty was not as important as South Dakota law. The state law prohibits the commission from certifying potential officers who have pleaded to a crime, but allows it to make exceptions in cases where a sentence has been suspended.

Kelly Marnette, attorney with the Division of Criminal Investigation told commissioners that a stay of adjudication in Minnesota is similar to South Dakota’s statutes on suspended sentences.

The state law that allows for leeway in the certification of law enforcement officers does not mention similar sentencing practices in other states. Marnette explained that without guidance from state laws, the commission will have to rely solely on its administrative rules. These rules state that a person who has been convicted of a felonious offense cannot be certified as a law enforcement officer.

Marnette stated, “I am not saying this candidate isn’t a qualified candidate for certification in South Dakota.” The question is: “Do you have the power, given the current state of some laws and rules, to grant a variance as Minnesota did?”… I will leave that up to you.

After more than forty minutes of discussion in closed-door executive session, the commission decided to side with Beckers.

Tom Wollman, Lincoln County State’s Attorney and member of the Lincoln County Commission said that it was a harsh but correct call for an offender whose crime occurred so many years ago.

Wollman stated, “I believe that this is a proper consideration for this board.” Our state law gives us a pretty clear mandate. We have that discretion.”

Beckers must undergo regular drug tests as a requirement for certification.

Use of medical marijuana forgiven

Alicen Fladland was also found guilty by the commission. She appeared on Wednesday with Tyler Appel of Roberts County, who hoped to hire her and put her in line to take the certification course to start her career as a South Dakota law enforcer.

She has worked for Appel, initially as a dispatcher, and then as a correctional officers. Appel wants her to move up into a supervisory role which requires law enforcement certification.

Fladland, on her application for this certification, admitted that she had used marijuana in 2022. Later, she told investigators she had obtained a medical cannabis card from the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe following a knee operation. She told Appel she did it to avoid prescription painkillers that could be addictive, but was unaware that tribal medical marijuana card are not recognized by state.

He said, “She believed she was following the legal path to deal with that pain.”

Fladland expressed her gratitude for the chance to be considered as a potential candidate for certification.

Fladland stated, “I’m an honest and hardworking person. I will do everything I can to better our community.”

Hank Prim who is the head of law enforcement training at the Division of Criminal Investigation of New York State recommended that eligibility be reinstated.

Prim stated that she was truthful in her application. If she hadn’t been honest in her application, the law enforcement committee would have never known.

Attorney General Marty Jackley (an ex-officio commission member) moved to reinstate her eligible on condition that she submits a new request. The decision was unanimously approved by the commissioners.

Originally published by South Dakota Searchlight.