Brookings Public Works Director Indicted for Allegedly Embezzling Over $100k

A City of Brookings employee is in boiling hot water following an investigation into a previous position.

According to Dakota News Now, 40-year-old Public Works Director Duane Buthe was indicted on felony embezzlement charges by a jury in Minnehaha County. The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation started looking into his time as the secretary of the South Dakota Association of County Highway Superintendents.

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According to a press release from the Brookings County State's Attorney Dan Nelson published by the Brookings Register:

“Beginning in May of this year, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation began an investigation into Mr. Buthe’s involvement with the South Dakota Association of County Highway Superintendents (SDACHS). Between the years of 2013 through 2020, Mr. Buthe worked as the Minnehaha County highway superintendent while also serving as secretary of SDACHS.”

The indictment alleges that Buthe misappropriated more than $100,000 of SDACHS money while he served as secretary and that the alleged misappropriations were all for his benefit.

Nelson is prosecuting the case because Buthe was an employee of Minnehaha County at the time of the alleged crime. There is nothing in the indictment that occurred in Brookings County.