CHIEF JUSTICE OF SOUTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURT DOES NOT EXPECT ANY UPCOMING LEGISLATION ADDRESSING INDIGENT LEGAL EXPENSES
PIERRE, S.D. – According to South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen there likely won’t be any new legislative requests from the Court regarding people who lack sufficient financial resources to hire their own lawyers when accused of crimes.
On Wednesday the Chief Justice, along with Neil Fulton, who chairs the state’s new Commission on Indigent Defense and is dean of the Knudson School of Law at the University of South Dakota, and Aditi Goel, deputy director at the Sixth Amendment Center held a news teleconference to discuss and answer questions about a new report on the varying approaches that counties take to provide indigent defense in South Dakota and recommendations for changes.
Currently, counties pay the costs of providing lawyers to people accused of crimes who can’t pay for their own, but those clients in turn are obligated to repay those costs in many cases. Three counties — Minnehaha, Pennington and Lawrence — have public defender offices. But most counties either annually contract for indigent defense or hire attorneys on a per-case basis.
The chief justice said that shifting the costs off the counties and onto to state government will require policy decisions that need to be worked out between the executive branch – in other words, the governor’s office – and the Legislature.
“I don’t anticipate we’re going to bring any significant legislation this next session on indigent defense,” Jensen told reporters. “I think we’re at least a year out talking about funding and what that looks like.”
The past two legislative sessions, the chief justice in his annual State of the Judiciary messages has addressed indigent defense and asked the Legislature to fund the first steps in what looks like a long period of reforms. Lawmakers established a task force in 2023 and created the standing commission in 2024.
The commission recently chose Kevin Miles as the state’s first chief defender for the new Office of Indigent Legal Services. The office will handle appeals of criminal cases involving adults and juveniles as well as habeas corpus appeals.
Fulton said the commission now needs to help Miles choose the rest of the staff. Prior to being chosen as law school dean, Fulton was the federal public defender for South Dakota and North Dakota. He said establishing a state-run indigent defense system at the trial-court level will take “many years” and asked for the public to be patient.
“We will not be able to do all of them at once,” Fulton said about the responsibilities laid out in the 2024 state law establishing the commission and the report’s recommendations, including that South Dakota should prohibit prosecutors from conferring with suspects early in the judicial process. He said some members of the task force see that practice as judicially efficient.
Fulton also urged that the task force maintain persistence. “Important work to me is planting trees, not flowers,” he said.
A reporter asked the chief justice where IM28 fits into the funding picture. Voters will decide in the November general election whether they want to prohibit charging state sales and use tax on anything humans consume.
Jensen said that the ballot measure was “concerning” because it would reduce funding to all of state government. But he described himself as an optimist and said he thinks the Legislature will provide the funding needed for indigent defense “because it’s a priority.”
SINKHOLE LAWSUIT DISMISSED BY CIRCUIT COURT, PLAINTIFF PLAN TO APPEAL TO STATE SUPREME COURT
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – A judge in South Dakota has thrown out a lawsuit brought by dozens of neighbors in a Rapid City-area subdivision whose homes were built above an old, underground mine linked to sinkholes in the neighborhood.
Circuit Court Judge Eric J. Strawn in a ruling posted online Wednesday granted the state’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed all the claims, ruling that the state has sovereign immunity, a sort of legal protection against lawsuits.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Kathy Barrow, said her Hideaway Hills clients will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs are arguing that the state’s mining activities and the way it ultimately closed the mine created conditions ripe for sinkholes to develop. They also fault the state for failing to disclose the problematic conditions.
The plaintiffs want the Supreme Court to sort out the “blurred lines” of the legal theory behind their claims, Barrow said.
An attorney for the state referred The Associated Press to Ian Fury, spokesman for Gov. Kristi Noem, who didn’t reply to The AP’s email seeking comment.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2020. That same year, a giant sinkhole opened in the neighborhood, which later revealed the extent of the mine beneath. About 150 neighbors in 94 homes are seeking $45 million. Other holes and sinkings have occurred since, imperiling houses, roads and utilities, according to the homeowners.
The former state cement plant mined gypsum for several years in the area decades ago. Attorneys for the state have argued that the cement plant did not mine underground and the collapse would have occurred regardless of the plant’s mining activities.
SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS STARTS NEW PILOT PROGRAM EVALUATING NEW COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR INMATES
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Corrections has implemented a pilot program that may lead to the reintroduction of messaging and video visit options for incarcerated offenders, their family, and friends.
The testing began at the Women’s Prison in Pierre on September 25th.
“We are monitoring this pilot to determine if this is a safe and secure method for messaging and video visit options for offenders via their tablets,” said Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko.
Messaging was removed from the offender tablets earlier this year because of inappropriate use.
You must be registered as an approved visitor in order to receive messages from offenders. Messages are not instant, and no photos are allowed with the testing.
SOUTH DAKOTA TECHNICAL COLLEGES SEE 5-YEAR HIGH FOR ENROLLMENT NUMBERS
SOUTH DAKOTA Undated – South Dakota’s technical college system is experiencing a five-year high in headcount, with 7,407 students enrolled in one of the state’s four technical colleges this fall. Numbers are bolstered by a strong class of first-year students and high retention rates among returning students.
“Technical education leads to high-paying jobs and meaningful careers for our graduates,” said South Dakota Board of Technical Education Executive Director Nick Wendell. “The industries and communities throughout our state benefit from the strength of the technical colleges in South Dakota.”
Much of the growth comes from increasing enrollment in programs related to healthcare, building trades, public safety, and manufacturing. In partnership with the South Dakota legislature, the technical college system has frozen tuition and fees paid by students over the past three academic years. This effort has led to even greater affordability for students and graduates.
“The consistent growth of our system demonstrates the number of South Dakota students and families who recognize technical education as an opportunity to learn here, get an outstanding job, and contribute to the future of our state,” said Wendell.
South Dakota’s technical college system includes Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, Mitchell Technical College in Mitchell, Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls, and Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City.
RAPID CITY MAN CHANGES PLEA IN MANSLAUGHTER CASE FROM 2023
RAPID CITY, S.D. – One of two men charged in the killing of a man last year is changing his plea.
Jacob Jumping Eagle, 30, entered a first-degree manslaughter plea Tuesday for his role in the death of Glennard Gunn in September of 2023.
Jumping Eagle, along with Craig Returns from Scout, were accused of beating Gunn to death and leaving his body in a Rapid City alleyway.
Jumping Eagle was originally charged with first degree murder. His guilty plea to first degree manslaughter means he faces up to 50 years in prison.
Jumping Eagle and Returns From Scout will both be sentenced on October 22nd.