criminal justice

South Dakota Chief Justice Steven Jensen gestures as he participates in oral arguments with other state Supreme Court justices on March 23, 2023, in Brookings. (David Bordewyk/South Dakota Newspaper Association)

Limits, application of South Dakota ‘stand your ground’ law debated before Supreme Court

BY: - March 24, 2023

BROOKINGS — In 2019, Minnesota native Ramon Deron Smith killed a man and wounded two others in a Sioux Falls parking lot during his first visit to the city.  He kept shooting as his targets fled across a busy urban thoroughfare. After doing so, he drove back to Minneapolis, shaved his head, ditched the vehicle […]

Wayne Edmonds Jr. testifies before the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles on March 15, 2023, at the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Kidnapper, attempted rapist vows to walk free without parole supervision

BY: - March 18, 2023

SIOUX FALLS — An inmate who abducted and tried to rape a 12-year-old Wasta girl in 1984 told the Board of Pardons and Paroles this week that he’d rather walk free in four years than ask for mercy and supervised release again. Wayne Edmonds Jr., 62, was sentenced to 75 years for kidnapping and seven […]

The South Dakota House of Representatives chamber at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Criminal justice bills passed in 2023 described as ‘just a start’ for lawmakers

BY: - March 13, 2023

The recently concluded legislative session emphasized and funded criminal justice to an extent not seen in a decade, but according to some prosecutors and lawmakers, it’s just the start of reforms. The focus next year, they say, should be on rehabilitation.  “We’ve had legislators who have reached out and have already said, ‘Hey, what can […]

Legislators in the Senate Chamber during the 2023 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

What will ‘truth in sentencing’ mean for South Dakota crime victims?

BY: - March 6, 2023

Anyone who listened to last week’s debate on Senate Bill 146 – often referred to as “truth in sentencing” – might think victims have no idea how long criminals will stay in prison before they’re paroled. Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said when a sentence comes down, “you think, wow, OK, we have some measure […]

The South Dakota Capitol building in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Legislative roundup: Pipelines and punishment

BY: - February 10, 2023

Aside from transgender health care, the big themes on the Searchlight radar this week were carbon pipelines and criminal justice. At least one media outlet used the term “Pipeline Monday” to describe the first day of the week that marked the halfway point of the main run of the 2023 legislative session. Half a dozen […]

Images from a cost estimate for Senate Bill 146, which would restrict parole for violent offenders in South Dakota.

Truth in sentencing cost: $21.5 million

BY: - February 8, 2023

Lawmakers sent a bill to the governor Friday that would repeal mandatory prison-jail cost estimates, but not before one of the last such estimates landed in their laps with a $21.5 million thud. The House and Senate have both approved a bill to repeal a rule that requires a prison-jail cost impact statement for any […]

Gov. Kristi Noem presents her fiscal year 2024 budget proposal to legislators on Dec. 6, 2022, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Noem pairs big cut with big spending in budget plan

BY: - December 6, 2022

PIERRE – Gov. Kristi Noem proposed South Dakota’s largest-ever state budget and biggest-ever tax cut Tuesday in her 2022 budget address, along with improved pay and benefits for state employees, money for new and improved prisons, free college tuition for National Guard soldiers, and numerous other proposals. Noem said the tax cut – a proposed […]

State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn addresses the Study Committee on Juvenile Justice on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at the South Dakota State Capitol. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

‘Three strikes’ rule for young offenders endorsed by legislative panel

BY: - November 5, 2022

A legislative panel wants to make it easier for judges to detain juveniles, require school resource officers to report suspected drug use to school officials, fund community response teams to deal with low-level offenders and offer a new path to graduation for troubled youth. Those were among the proposals that emerged during the final meeting […]

The Lincoln County Courthouse in Canton, SD, as seen on Oct. 28, 2022.

Circuit court bench in SD struggles to diversify

BY: - November 1, 2022

Just under half the people in state prisons in South Dakota are people of color, but none of the judges who sent them there are.  The general election on Nov. 8 won’t change that. Circuit judges in South Dakota, who preside over the felony criminal cases that can send a defendant to prison, come up […]

Candidates for a circuit court judgeship in South Dakota's Fourth District, from left: Jennifer Tomac, John H. Fitzgerald, Tina Hogue, Chad Callahan, David Natvig.

Five aim to fill West River judicial post Nov. 8

BY: - November 1, 2022

Contested circuit judge elections are a rarity in South Dakota. Just one sitting judge, Robert Spears in central South Dakota’s Third Circuit, faces a challenge this year. Another open seat in the Sioux Falls area has two candidates. The Fourth Circuit, however, will make history on Nov. 8, when voters will choose from five judicial […]

The exterior of the Minnehaha County Juvenile Detention Center, pictured on Oct. 21, 2022. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Minnehaha County mulls $50 million juvenile detention center

BY: - October 25, 2022

SIOUX FALLS – Minnehaha County commissioners may soon ask property owners to foot the bill for a $50 million replacement of the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) in South Dakota’s largest city. A new Juvenile Justice Center would supplant the 53-year-old JDC with a modern facility twice as large. The project would add 14 beds for […]