By 
PIERRE — A criminal record spotted with prostitution, drug and driving infractions proved too much for an aspiring South Dakota cop to overcome.
That was the case Wednesday, as members of the 13-member Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission voted unanimously to deny Samantha Hamm a license to become a law enforcement officer in the Mount Rushmore State.
In its denial, the board cited Hamm’s checkered past. A former Colorado resident, Hamm was arrested in Aurora during a sting operation in 2010 on prostitution charges. She later failed to make her court appearance and was also cited in a separate incident for driving without a license or insurance, ultimately resulting in a suspension.
Hamm’s troubles followed her to South Dakota. In 2020, she was arrested after being pulled over in a traffic stop for possession of eight ounces of marijuana, along with a loaded firearm.
Her rap sheet prompted the South Dakota Attorney General’s office to deny her application for a law enforcement license, a decision she appealed to Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission.
Officials say Hamm’s record isn’t the only reason they denied her application either.
“The applicant is required to disclose criminal history,” said Hank Prim, administrator of the state’s law enforcement training academy. “Ms. Hamm did not disclose that her driver’s license had previously been suspended.”
But Hamm, representing herself during Wednesday’s hearing, said that her life had completely changed, especially since the Colorado charges that came when she was a teen. Now, she says she’s a reformed mother who’s completed Lake Area Tech’s law enforcement training academy and passed with flying colors.
Hamm told the committee she hasn’t used cannabis or had any run-ins with the law, since her arrest in 2020. A self-described 18-year-old runaway at the time of her 2010 arrest, Hamm said that she was trying to find a place to stay.
“I’m not here to make excuses, but rather to share how I learned from them,” Hamm told the board through tears. “I was able to break away from that situation, and I am grateful for that.”
She also contended that she did not realize her driver’s license had ever been suspended when she first applied to be a law enforcement officer.
Chad Stahl, department supervisor for the law enforcement school at Lake Area Tech, vouched for Hamm’s character and what she could bring to her community as a potential law enforcement officer.
“She was an exceptional student,” Stahl said. “She disclosed all of her convictions at the time.”
Board members, though sympathetic, weren’t convinced. After a lengthy executive session to consider the evidence, they voted to deny Hamm.
Of primary concern was the amount of marijuana that Hamm was allegedly in possession of at the time of her 2020 South Dakota arrest. Though Hamm wasn’t charged with dealing drugs, committee members noted she could have been distribution because Hamm’s car had a significant amount of cash in it at the time of the traffic stop.
“The facts are what they are here,” said Brent Kempema of the Attorney General’s office, who presented the argument against Hamm.
Several members of the board urged Hamm to consider a career in law outside of being a police officer, adding that her experiences on the other side of it could help make her an asset in the community.
Though she was rejected, law enforcement officers in South Dakota have the ability to appeal rulings after one year.
“I want to be a part of the solution, building trust between law enforcement and the community, Hamm said. “I want to use my story as a way to connect with the community and show people that change is possible.”
