Cerny stepping down from GF&P Commission

• Bill Cerny

Bill Cerny

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MADISON — One of the newest and oldest members of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission will need to resign because he’ll no longer meet the requirements set in state law.

Bill Cerny, a former legislator and a longtime agricultural producer from the Burke area, completed his final commission meeting Friday.

“I’d very much like to stay on the committee. I’m not only selling the farm but we’re moving East River to Yankton,” he said.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard appointed Cerny on Feb. 7 of this year. Cerny fit two sets of the qualifications set in state law for balancing the commission. He was a landowner from western South Dakota.

Cerny said after the meeting Friday that he will close the sale of the final 350 acres on Nov. 15. He had been selling pieces for some time. Parts of his holdings had been homesteaded by a grandfather.

He and his wife Pat have “pretty much” completed the move to Yankton.

Cerny, who turned 82 in September, said he was surprised earlier this year when he received the invitation from the governor to serve on the commission. Cerny, a Democrat, was in the state House of Representatives from 1979 through 2000.

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