SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – USD Knudson School of Law and South Dakota native, Jackie Barber, has been appointed as Secretary of the U.S. Senate by Republican Sen. John Thune. Barber, from Onida, South Dakota, previously served as the director for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration since 2023. She also served as chief counsel for the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition & Forestry and House Agriculture Committee. Thune introduced a resolution Jan. 3 to appoint Barber to the position. The Senate agreed to the resolution without any amendments by unanimous consent.  Nold named superintendent of Sioux Falls Schools As secretary, Barber will keep the legislative records of the Senate, including minutes of proceedings, calendars of business, debates, nominations, bills and amendments. The secretary is also responsible for the records of senators' elections and for receiving and transmitting official messages to and from the president and the House of Representatives. Barber graduated from the University of South Dakota with a business administration degree in 2001. In 2006, she received a Juris Doctor from USD’s Knudson School of Law. “Jackie would be a testament to what our students can do,”  USD law school Dean Neil Fulton told KELOLAND News. “We prepare students with really fundamentally sound general skills, and they put it into practice in a lot of places. Jackie's always been interested in the legislative and political process, has been deeply engaged in Congress for a couple of decades. I think the skills that she developed here are critical to that.” John Thune Faces the Nation Barber was also the 2024 graduation speaker for USD’s law school.  She will be the eighth woman and second person from South Dakota to hold the position. Nancy Erickson was the secretary of the senate from 2007-2015 and graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls The former secretary, Sonceria Ann Berry, served from March 2021 to Jan. 2025. She was the first African American to serve in the position.