public defenders

The Brown County Courthouse is located in Aberdeen and is connected to other county offices, such as the Auditor's Office, and the Brown County Jail. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota one of few states to saddle counties with public defense costs

BY: - March 31, 2023

All U.S. citizens have a right to an attorney when charged with a crime, even if they can’t afford one.  Only 11 states, including South Dakota, use local rather than state dollars to pay for the vast majority of public defense. Just one state relies more heavily on counties to pay the cost than South […]

Chief Justice Steven Jensen addresses the South Dakota Legislature in Pierre on Jan. 11, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota set to scrutinize its approach to court-appointed attorneys

BY: - January 31, 2023

The state of South Dakota may soon form a team to examine the way it assigns and pays its court-appointed lawyers. Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee signed off Tuesday on a bill that would create a public defense task force in South Dakota, adding an emergency clause that would allow work to begin immediately […]

Chief Justice Steven Jensen addresses the South Dakota Legislature in Pierre on Jan. 11, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Chief justice: Contested elections for local judges may dissolve under lawmaker proposal

BY: - January 11, 2023

South Dakotans would lose the right to elect judges under a proposal from lawmakers that the state’s chief justice addressed Wednesday during his State of the Judiciary speech. Judges can rise to the bench by way of the ballot, but most do not.  Judicial elections are mandated by the state constitution, but they only happen […]