Noem announces state office openings and closings for Thursday

Gov. Kristi Noem has ordered state government offices to be closed in Davison County and opened in several regions of the state on Thursday:

• In the southeastern part of the state, offices will open in Brookings, Lake, Miner and Moody counties.
• In the western part of the state, offices will open in Custer and Fall River counties, as well as in the western portion of Pennington County (including Hill City, Keystone and Rapid City).

“Although offices are open in these counties, state employees should be smart,” Noem said in a news release. “If they live rurally and need to travel on roads that have ‘no travel advised’ by SD511, they should work with their supervisors to work remotely.”

Offices will remain open in Bon Homme, Clay, Hanson, Hutchinson, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, Turner, Union and Yankton counties.

While executive branch offices in the rest of the state will be closed, employees will be working remotely.

Officials continue to closely monitor the storm, which features heavy snow, freezing rain and high winds. A decision on state government office availability for Friday will be made Thursday.

People are encouraged to stay home Thursday if possible. If they must travel, they should check sd511.org or the SD511 mobile app.