Who's Watching Custer City?
A Constitutionalist's Take on Local Government Accountability

I want to tell you about something that happened in Custer County, South Dakota. Not because it's unique — it isn't. It happens in small counties across this country every year, quietly, in December, before anyone's paying attention. But it happened here, it's documented, and it's a textbook example of what unaccountable local government looks like in practice.

The City of Custer and Custer County had a law enforcement contract in place since the late 1970s. Nearly 50 years. The arrangement: the city paid the county for dedicated Sheriff's Office patrol of Custer City. In 2025, the city was paying $435,000 a year for that coverage. Deputies assigned specifically to Custer City. Businesses, schools, residents — covered.

That contract is now gone. And the way it ended tells you everything you need to know about how power operates at the local level when no one's watching.

The Numbers Don't Lie — But They Do Get Spun

Before I go further, let me address the numbers directly, because there's already misinformation circulating on social media about what the city actually offered. I've seen people claim the city "refused to pay $750,000." That's backwards. The $750,000 was the county's demand — a 72% increase over the prior year's contract. The city's final offer was $500,000 with 6% annual increases. The commission rejected it.

I've also seen Google's AI Overview get this completely backwards, attributing the $750,000 to the city rather than the county. This is exactly why I don't cite AI summaries on matters of public record. The Custer County Chronicle article is available. Read the primary source.

"Barring an 11th hour deal, the City of Custer will enter 2026 without a law enforcement contract in place with Custer County. The Custer County Commission voted to reject the city's latest counteroffer and rescinded all previous offers." — Custer County Chronicle, December 2025

The city offered half a million dollars. The commission said no, rescinded every prior offer on the table, and sent a termination letter through the state's attorney. Unanimous vote. Special December meeting. That's the record.

The Coverage Flip — Who Benefits?

Here's where a constitutionalist has to ask the uncomfortable question: who made the decision about who gets protected, and was that decision made on the record in public view?

For 49 years, the arrangement was simple. The city paid for dedicated coverage of Custer City. Deputies were assigned there. The rural township areas of the county — farms, remote properties, outer roads — received coverage when deputies were available after city calls were handled. That was the deal the city was paying for.

As of January 1, 2026, that's reversed. Deputies now go where calls take them across the entire county. No dedicated Custer City assignment. The city's commercial center, residential neighborhoods, schools, and businesses compete for coverage with the entire county.

I'm not here to argue which coverage model is superior. Rural communities deserve protection too — that's a legitimate position. What I'm asking is: was this a deliberate policy choice made in public, debated openly, and justified on the record? Or did it happen as a side effect of a rejected contract, decided by unanimous vote in a December special meeting?

The answer matters constitutionally. Local government officials are stewards of public resources, including public safety. When they make decisions that materially change the distribution of those resources, the principle of consent of the governed demands they do it in the open.

The Accountability Architecture — And Its Failure

County commissioners in South Dakota, like in most states, occupy a peculiar position in our constitutional structure. They can't be fired. There's no easily accessible recall mechanism. They're not answerable to the governor, the legislature, or any state administrative body for most of their day-to-day decisions. The only check on their power is the next election.

The Founders understood that this kind of concentrated, difficult-to-remove power is only safe if it operates in the light. That's why transparency requirements exist — not as suggestions, but as law. In South Dakota, county audits are required to be published in the county's official newspaper of record. In Custer County, that's the Custer County Chronicle.

Those audits haven't been published there in approximately eight years.

No Corrective Action Plan filed for the current state audit findings. No monthly financial reports at commission meetings — which are required by law. Fund balances not published for public review.

I want to be precise: I'm not alleging criminality or intentional malfeasance. What I am saying is this — when a governing body operates without the transparency that state statute mandates, and simultaneously makes decisions like rejecting a $500,000 contract and shifting law enforcement coverage across an entire county, the public has no way to evaluate whether those decisions are sound. That's not a policy disagreement. That's a structural failure of accountability.

The Property Rights Dimension

From a constitutionalist and property rights perspective, this hits differently. Custer City residents pay property taxes. Those taxes fund county operations, including the Sheriff's Office. The city also paid an additional $435,000 specifically for dedicated coverage. They got specific, dedicated service for that payment.

That service is now gone. The city's taxpayers are still funding the same county budget. They're getting generalized coverage that competes with the entire county rather than the dedicated patrol they were paying for.

The principle the Founders were most consistent about — from Jefferson's writings on property to Madison's Federalist arguments on the protection of rights — is that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed, and those powers must be exercised transparently. Providing less service for the same tax burden, decided in a December special meeting without prior public deliberation, tests the limits of that principle.

Why This Is a Pattern, Not an Anomaly

This isn't unique to Custer County. Similar state audit issues have been documented in other South Dakota counties. It's a pattern in smaller counties where the local press has limited reach, voter turnout for commissioner races is low, and the governing body faces little effective oversight between elections.

The structure itself creates the risk. Commissioners serve long terms. They're hard to remove. Audit requirements are routinely delayed or ignored with minimal consequences. Monthly financial reporting — the most basic form of fiscal accountability — simply doesn't happen in some counties.

SEAL SD is focused on property tax abolition and constitutional education. I've been consistent in criticizing fiscal opacity regardless of party. But I live in South Dakota, and what happens in Custer County matters to every South Dakotan who believes local government should operate with the same transparency we demand at the state and federal level.

What Accountability Actually Looks Like

A constitutionalist framework for restoring public trust starts with three things, none of which require new laws or state intervention:

• Publish the audits. Eight years of required Chronicle publications have not happened. File the overdue CAP response. This is the minimum legal obligation.
• Monthly financial reports at every commission meeting. Required by law. Every department, every month, on the record.
• Reopen the contract negotiation. $500,000 with 6% annual increases was a reasonable starting point. Walking away from half a million dollars and 49 years of cooperation requires a documented, public justification. The residents of Custer City deserve to hear it.

These aren't partisan demands. They're the basic operating conditions that the Founders built into republican government at every level: act in public, account for your decisions, and accept that the power you hold is borrowed from the people who elected you.

The Founders built local government to be the most accountable tier of the American republic — closest to the people, most directly responsive to their needs. When it fails to meet that standard, the republic's self-correcting mechanism is an informed citizenry that shows up.

Consider this my small contribution to that effort.

Jerry Odom is the founder of SEAL SD, a South Dakota property tax abolition initiative grounded in constitutional principles. Primary source for all figures in this article: Custer County Chronicle — "Law enforcement contract will expire".