Jackley discusses alleged crimes of former state employee

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A former employee with South Dakota’s Department of Social Services stands accused of stealing around $1.8 million from Child Protection Services. Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the charges Thursday.

68-year-old Lonna Carroll, who worked in Pierre in Child Protective Services and now lives in Algona, Iowa, is facing two counts of aggravated grand theft.

“This investigation began in February of 2024; it began when the Department of Social Services Child Protection saw an irregularity in some of the financial transactions, said Attorney General Marty Jackley at a news conference late Thursday morning.

Jackley later sat down for a one on one interview with KELOLAND’S Tom Hanson. Jackley says the scheme involved government checks and a person who found herself in a position to request and approve the funds herself.

“She would go down to the auditor’s office, take a check, that check would be made out to a particular bank, go down to that bank, deposit, then immediately withdraw and then go to a separate bank and deposit it in her personal account,” said Jackley.

According to Jackley, a DCI investigation shows Carroll did this, or a variation, 571 times
He says his office was alerted by Governor Noem’s office, and multiple state officials have aided in the investigation.

“And now we are extraditing the defendant back from Iowa. She is certainly presumed innocent and has all of the protections under the Constitution, but it bothers me that, as Attorney General, I strongly believe that government agencies and government employees are supposed to protect and safeguard taxpayer dollars, and after our investigation, I’m alleging that did not occur,” said Jackley.

Carroll faces up to 25 years on the first count of aggravated grand theft and 15 years on the second. She will face the charges in Hughes County because the alleged crimes happened in Pierre. Her bond is set at $50,000. Jackley says it does not appear there is a good chance of recovering much of the money.

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