Ryan Maher

The headquarters of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe are in Eagle Butte, a town of over 3,000 located in northwestern South Dakota. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Dewey County opens satellite office on reservation, staving off petition to move county seat

BY: - July 28, 2023

It’s an afternoon off work — an 82-mile round trip — for residents of Eagle Butte to visit the Dewey County Courthouse. But it’ll now be a matter of minutes for Eagle Butte residents to visit Dewey County’s first ever satellite office opened earlier this month — the third county satellite office in the state. […]

The South Dakota Capitol is reflected in Capitol Lake. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Bill to complicate county seat relocations limps out of committee

BY: - January 20, 2023

A bill that would make it more difficult to move a county seat to another city has been stripped down by committee amendments but will move on to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 56, as originally introduced, would have made numerous changes to the state law (SDCL 7-6) governing the relocation of a county seat, […]

Photo of the Dewey County Courthouse in winter, built in 1959 and located in Timber Lake, South Dakota.

Bill would make it harder to move county seats; opponents call it ‘antidemocratic’

BY: - January 13, 2023

Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, wants to make it more difficult to move a county seat to another city. Senate Bill 56, which he introduced Tuesday, follows a failed 2022 effort to move the Dewey County seat from Timber Lake to Eagle Butte.  Dewey County is one of a few South Dakota counties that is within […]