SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A 4-H clubcheating scandal at last year’sSouth Dakota State Fair involvingthe disputed ownership of a pighas sparked a federal lawsuit inwhich a White Lake family is seek-ing hundreds of thousands ofdollars.

Greg Kroupa is suing the state4-H office on behalf of his 16-year-old daughter, Bayley, who was per-manently banned fromcompetition last October after anethics committee found she had“misrepresented the ownership” ofher swine entry, according to theArgus Leader.

The committee permanentlydisqualified Bayley, the last of fourKroupa siblings to participate in 4-H, and stripped her of prizes inboth the swine and cattle cate-gories. That means she cannotcompete in national events —which require that participants bein good standing with 4-H or FFA —

and puts her out of the running forhundreds of thousands of dollarsin potential prize money, her fathersaid.

Kroupa said the committeeclaimed the pig had been shown atanother state’s fair and that thefinding was based on no morethan a cellphone photograph.

He maintains that jealous com-petitors were looking for an ex-cuse to take down the family,which has found success in stateand national livestock shows. In2007, his daughter Shelby took theGrand Champion Junior title at theNational Western Stock Show inDenver, where her steer Maynardsold for a near-record $110,000.

“We have been made an exam-ple out of because of the level ofcompetition that we haveachieved,” he said.

Peter A. Nielson, assistant di-rector of 4-H youth development,who is named as a defendant in

the lawsuit, said he cannot com-ment on the allegations. GaryThimsen, a lawyer representing4-H, declined immediatecomment.

BY GRANT SCHULTEAssociated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraskaman who lost both legs when hewas struck by a pickup truckowes the state $131,000 for med-ical payments made while hewaited to collect money from alegal settlement, the stateSupreme Court ruled Friday.

The high court said EdwardSmalley of Plattsmouth mustrepay the full amount to the Ne-braska Department of Health andHuman Services. State officialshad initially declined to coverSmalley’s expenses through Med-icaid, but agreed to do so as longas he reimbursed the programwith money from an out-of-courtsettlement.

Smalley collected an $800,000settlement for the December2007 crash in rural Cass County,according to the ruling. But hisattorney argued that repayingthe full amount to the state rancontrary to federal law.

The ruling overturned a dis-trict court judge’s decision thatcapped the amount he owed at$17,420 — far less than the

$131,000 paid by NebraskaMedicaid.

“Based on the unique facts ofthis case, the district courtshould have looked no furtherthan the agreement between theparties,” the high court wrote inits opinion.

A phone message left withSmalley’s attorney was not imme-diately returned.

The crash happened in ruralCass County in December 2007,as Smalley was helping a womanwith car trouble on the side of asnow- and ice-packed road.

The pickup truck driver,Jerome Speck of Murray, wasdrunk when he struck Smalley,according to the ruling. A snow-plow blade mounted to the trucksevered one of Smalley’s legs anddoctors had to amputate theother.

Smalley qualified for Medicaidafter he lost both legs, the rulingsaid, and the Omaha hospitalthat treated him submitted morethan $400,000 in medical bills tothe state.

Because of a Medicaidprovider agreement with the hos-pital, state officials had the abil-

ity to resolve Smalley’s medicalpayments for about $131,000 —which would have let him keep agreater share of the settlementmoney.

But the state claims investiga-tor, Emil Spicka, initially declinedto pay because of possible “third-party resources,” including insur-ance coverage. State officialslater agreed to cover the costs,with the understanding thatSmalley would reimburse the De-partment of Health and HumanServices after reaching asettlement.

Smalley’s attorney later testi-fied that he only entered theagreement to cover his client’sexpenses at the discounted Medi-caid rate.

The attorney said he never in-tended to honor the agreement,and that he believed the per-sonal injury claim was worth atleast $6 million. Spicka testifiedthat he had expected the state tobe reimbursed and without theagreement, Smalley would havehad to negotiate the bill with thehospital.

A district court judge ruledthat the HHS department’s claim

to reimbursement was cappedbecause of a U.S. Supreme Courtdecision that said states couldonly collect settlement moneytied directly to medical care ex-penses. The departmentappealed.

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Saturday, 3.24.12ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net

NEWS DEPARTMENT: news@yankton.net 17PRESS DAKOTANthe midwest

BY KRISTI EATONAssociated Press

SIOUX FALLS — The State Bar president en-visions developing a website that will connectlawyers looking for jobs with communitiesshort on legal representation to combat theshortage of attorneys in South Dakota’s ruralcommunities.

The website is part of an ongoing recruit-ment initiative called Project Rural Practice, de-veloped to fill the gaps as older attorneys retirewith no one to take over their businesses, BarPresident Pat Goetzinger told The AssociatedPress. Sixty-five percent of the state’s 1,861 at-torneys are in four cities: Sioux Falls, RapidCity, Aberdeen and Pierre, Bar data shows.

“I see the website being particularly usefulin the match side of it,” Goetzinger said in aWednesday interview. “The communities can

plug in and have links ... so that a lawyer(who’s) looking into that community can seewhat that community has to offer.”

People living in rural areas sometimes haveto travel further for legal advice, meaning ruralcases are slow to be resolved. Cash-strappedcommunities are spending more money tobring in lawyers for board and commissionmeetings, while businesses and estates thatused to turn to one person for legal guidancehave to use firms with multiple specialists,making the process less personal.

Goetzinger said the website, which wouldinclude resources on starting and maintaining arural practice, must first be approved by thegroup’s commissioners, but he anticipates it tobe operational by the end of the summer orearly fall. Task force members are working on amockup.

Thomas Geu, interim dean at The University

of South Dakota School of Law and a memberof the task force, said some lawyers prefer topractice in rural areas because of the quality oflife. But the countrywide urban sprawl meansfewer law students are coming from rural areas,and many have little knowledge of — or desireto find out — what small-town life is like.

He’s hoping the Rural Practice initiative andwebsite can help change that.

Matching community needs with availablelawyers is “one of the key components to de-liver on some of the goals of Project Rural Prac-tice,” Geu said.

The Project Rural Practice task force is nextscheduled to meet April 10 in Howard. Goet-zinger said he is planning a dinner for April 9that will recognize the five active Bar lawyers inSouth Dakota who have practiced for 60 yearsor more.

Wynot Man Makes Plea Deal In Teen Sex CaseBEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A 38-year-old northeast Nebraska man

had pleaded guilty after making a deal with prosecutors in a teensex case.

Beatrice radio station KWBE reports John Suing, of Wynot,pleaded guilty to a felony charge of enticing a child by means of anelectronic device. In return, prosecutors dropped a misdemeanorcharge of delivering obscene material to a minor.

Suing was arrested in June. Police say Suing had been communi-cating with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy in an effort tomeet the boy for sex. The “boy” turned out to be an undercover of-ficer.

S.D. Man Pleads Not Guilty To Mail, Drug FraudSIOUX FALLS (AP) — A Spearfish man has pleaded not guilty to

an indictment charging him with mail fraud and misbranding drugs. U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson says 73-year-old John Martin

was indicted this week for allegedly using the U.S. mail as part ofan alleged fraudulent scheme to convince people he could heal orcure their illnesses.

He pleaded not guilty to the indictment in federal court. Martin faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each mail

fraud count and one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for the mis-branding drugs count.

Grass Fire Causes Evacuations In Rapid CityRAPID CITY (AP) — Residents are being allowed back into their

apartment buildings in Rapid City after fire officials say they havecontained a fire near the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Four apartment buildings near the campus had been evacuated asfirefighters worked to contain the fast-spreading fire. Nobody was in-jured and there are no reports of damage.

The Rapid City Fire Department says in a statement that investiga-tors have determined the 13-acre fire was caused by accidentalhuman activity.

Website Planned To Lure Lawyers To Rural S.D.

Nebraska Supreme Court:

Neb. Man Struck By Pickup Must Repay State

S.D. 4-H Cheating Scandal Subject Of Federal Suit