indigent legal services task force
Booze tax should help pay county legal bills, state senator says
Liquor, beer and wine might offer relief to counties stuck paying for alcohol’s impact on public safety, if a recommendation from a public defense task force becomes law. Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, would like to see the state dedicate its half of the $18 million collected in alcohol taxes to finance the creation and operation […]
Public defender recommendation won’t provide relief to cash-strapped counties, legislator says
A task force studying costly legal services recommended a state public defender’s office last month to ease the burden on counties when defendants can’t afford a lawyer. But Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, a member of the task force, told legislators during a separate study committee meeting on county funding issues Wednesday in Pierre that the […]
Task force recommends creation of state public defender’s office
A task force studying the cost of public defense costs to South Dakota counties has concluded that a state public defender’s office could ease the burden. A seven-person office would cost the state around $1.4 million a year under a rough outline of its duties presented Monday during a virtual meeting of the Indigent Legal […]