S.D. Supreme Court rules that judge should have been disqualified

State law allows parties to disqualify and request new judge, majority rules

A divided South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a circuit court judge overseeing a complex family dispute involving farm lands and a guardianship should have been disqualified from hearing one of the cases in the dispute.

Paul O’Farrell, who has lived and farmed on family land near Marvin, South Dakota, filed a lawsuit alleging that the $3.2 million sale of family land was “legally ineffective.” It was the fifth civil action involving the siblings and parents of the family regarding a family trust, guardianship of the father and an eviction of O’Farrell and his company from farming on the land.

All of the five lawsuits were combined under one judge, Judge Robert Spears, by the presiding judge in the Third Judicial Circuit, Judge Gregory Stoltenburg. Cases involving the same parties and similar issues will often be placed under the same judge in the name of “judicial economy,” where one judge oversees multiple cases involving similar parties and issues.

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