Notable South Dakota jurists to help standup state-run public defenders office

Newly-formed commission aimed at easing county-level criminal defense costs

The Stanley County Courthouse in Fort Pierre. (Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

Former Attorney General and Second Circuit Court judge Larry Long will help usher in South Dakota's first-ever state-run public defenders office.

The Sioux Falls jurist has been appointed to the newly formed Indigent Legal Services Commission by Gov. Kristi Noem, one of nine members on the panel that will create a public defenders system to handle criminal appeals, "habeas corpus" cases, and child abuse and neglect appeals for the poor. The Commission will also be tasked with hiring a chief public defender to oversee the operations of the new Office of Indigent Legal Services.

"A strong criminal justice system supports our American way of life. It upholds the rights of our people. That includes the Sixth Amendment right to legal counsel," the governor said this week when announcing she had signed House Bill 1057, which created the office and commission.

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Until now, public defender services have been the responsibility of county governments in South Dakota, which now becomes the last state in the country to shift those costs to state books.

The change is welcomed by counties, which for years have called for criminal justice relief from the Legislature. Most counties in South Dakota do not have public defenders' offices, and instead are forced to contract indigent defense work to private attorneys. Available resources are also cited as a burden — in six counties, there are no lawyers, and in 23, there are three or fewer, according to state’s Supreme Court.

The office will look to address that, too, with training and mentorship for rural attorneys anticipated to be offered once it's up and running, according to the governor's office.

Overhauling the state's indigent defense system also has the support of South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen, who addressed the need for it in this year's State of the Judiciary.

Of the nine members on the committee, Jensen is charged with making three appointments, as is the governor. While the justice's picks weren't in as of Thursday morning, Noem has named South Dakota State Bar President Heather Lammers Bogard and Sioux Falls attorney Dick Travis to the commission.

The remaining three positions on the commission are appointed by the Senate President Pro Tempore, the Speaker of the House, and South Dakota Association of County Commissions Executive Director Kris Jacobsen.

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Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels appointed Rep. David Kull of Brandon, and outgoing Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck put himself on the panel.

"The goal is to standup an indigent legal program in the state," the Watertown attorney told The Dakota Scout. "I think I have the background to help the commission do that."