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Panel Approves Measure To Make Oglala Lakota County Official

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A legislative panel has passed a resolution to change the name of Shannon County to Oglala Lakota County after voters overwhelmingly approved the new name in the November election.

The House State Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to send the resolution to the chamber’s floor.

Democratic Rep. Kevin Killer of Pine Ridge says his measure is part of the process to finalize the name change, which roughly 80 percent of the county’s voters approved.

Killer says he enjoys educating lawmakers about why the county was renamed.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s office is pushing a measure to make it less cumbersome to enact a name change once voters have approved it. The new process wouldn’t require lawmakers to pass a resolution to make the alteration official.