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Rounds plus nine: State's first family a government mainstay

PIERRE - For residents of Pierre, state government is Citibank or John Morrell or one of the big-name hospitals in Sioux Falls.

It's the place to find work.

During the 2006 campaign, critics started rumors that as many as 37 members of Gov. Mike Rounds' family worked for state government. The inference was that the Republican governor who grew up in Pierre in a family of 11 siblings with a dad who was for a time a state employee, had hired a bunch of brothers and sisters and kids.

That wasn't the case, but there were some new hires and there are plenty of Rounds relatives on the state payroll.

Various personnel and other state records show, besides the governor himself, nine family members in various agencies.

All but three of those people - Jamison Rounds at the University of South Dakota, Brian Rounds at the Public Utilities Commission and Carrie Rounds at the Department of Human Services - were working for the state before Rounds became governor in 2003.