Noem unveils new state services website with ‘pheasant’ chat
Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is unveiling a new design for a government services website, billing it as a modernization for citizen services.
The website links to services ranging from state park permits to job postings and COVID-19 updates. It also features a chat function with a pheasant named “Fez.”
The pheasant offers to connect users to a live agent for 12 hours during business days. Noem says the project has been in the works since May and includes a search function to find government services.
Noem’s spokesman says the website portal cost $1.6 million to build and launch.
