Hired Guns

Ex-Legislators Registered to Lobby 2005 - South Dakota

WASHINGTON, October 12, 2006 — The Center for Public Integrity identified former state legislators who went on to register as state lobbyists. (See Statehouse Revolvers story.)

Below find the names and client information of former legislators the Center found who were registered in 2005 as lobbyists in this state. The chart reflects how the state lobbying oversight agency published client and employer information. If a firm name was listed with a lobbyist’s name, the Center included it under Firm Name. Then the firm's clients were included under Firm Client Name. If the firm was not clearly listed or there was not a firm name listed, the Center listed the names under Direct Employer or Client Name.

Lobbyist NameFirm NameFirm Client NameDirect Employer or Client Name
Elmer Bietz   SD Soybean Association
John Brown    Direct Employers or Clients (6)
Caitlin Collier   SD Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
Michael DeMersseman    Direct Employers or Clients (3)
Michael Derby   Black Hills Vision
Larry Diedrich   Wind on the Wires
Deb Fischer-Clemens   Avera Health
Charles Flowers   SD Coalition of Schools
Richard Gregerson    Direct Employers or Clients (7)
E. James Hood    Direct Employers or Clients (6)
James Hutmacher    Direct Employers or Clients (3)
Dean Krogman    Direct Employers or Clients (9)
Malcolm McKillop   Associated School Boards of SD
Larry Nelson    Direct Employers or Clients (16)
Nicholas Nemec   SD Democratic Party
Mitchell Richter    Direct Employers or Clients (4)
Kenneth Wetz   SD Rural Electric Assn

Find out if ex-legislators are registered to lobby in 2006 by searching the state's lobbyist list.

How We Did It
To determine who the statehouse revolvers nationwide were, the Center for Public Integrity first matched names from states' lobbyist registrations from 2003, 2004 and 2005 with names from official state legislature rosters dating back to 1975.

Researchers then interviewed hundreds of people, including campaign finance watchdogs, state capitol reporters, political consultants, college professors and the legislator-lobbyists themselves. Cross-referencing the information gleaned from the interviews with what was already available from documents, Center staff created the first database listing former legislators across all 50 states who have since become lobbyists.

In doing so, the Center cast a wide net, grouping a disparate collection of individuals. Not all lobbyists are the same, as researchers learned during interviews, and the data reflect this.

The final totals for each state are most likely conservative because when sufficient confirmation was unable to be obtained researchers left out the possible match.

For context, lists of legislator-lobbyists by state include employers or clients as reported in 2005 state records.

More than 60 percent of the individuals registered to lobby for multiple clients, often via lobbying firms. Referred to as "contract" lobbyists, they advocate for clients on a contractual basis. The remaining former officials are considered "in-house" lobbyists — those who advocate for only one client, typically their respective employer.