South Dakota Court Information

The South Dakota court structure is quite a simple one. There are 2 kinds of courts in the state – federal courts and state courts, and among the state courts, there are just three. They are:

•    The Supreme Court
•    The Circuit Courts (these are present in 7 circuits)
•    The Magistrate Courts

Supreme Court of South Dakota

This is highest judicial body in the state, and it came into being in 1889 when the Territory of Dakota was divided into South and North Dakota. When this happened, the Supreme Court of the Territory also was dissolved and the Supreme Court of South Dakota was initiated.

Today in this court there are 4 Associate Justices who are headed by a Chief Justice, who is selected by the other justices. Once selected, the State Governor then appoints the Chief Justice.

Being the state's Supreme Court, this is also the 'court of last resort,' where a high number of appeals cases come for hearing. If you are not happy with the decision of the Circuit Court, you can approach the Supreme Court of South Dakota. This court also has the jurisdiction to issue remedial or original writs, and the authority to provide advice about the scope of executive power. This advice may be given to the state's Governor.

The website of South Dakota’s Supreme Court is

http://www.sdjudicial.com

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Circuit Courts of South Dakota

This South Dakota court is just below the state's Supreme Court. In this state, there are 7 Circuit Courts that between them cover the 66 counties. The 7 courts and counties they cover are as follows:

1st Judicial Circuit

: Brule, Buffalo, Aurora, Davison, Douglas, McCook, Turner, Clay, Hanson, Hutchinson, Yankton and the Charles Mix County.

2nd Judicial Circuit

: Minnehaha and the Lincoln County.

3rd Judicial Circuit

: Deuel, Grant, Beadle, Brookings, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Hamlin, Hand, Moody, Miner, Sanborn and the Codington County.

4th Judicial Circuit

: Lawrence, Meade, Butte, Dewey, Ziebach, Perkins and the Harding County.

5th Judicial Circuit

: Day, Edmunds, McPherson, Roberts, Brown, Marshall, Walworth, Campbell, Faulk and the Spink County.

6th Judicial Circuit

: Hyde, Jackson, Potter, Sennett, Gregory, Haakon, Sully, Todd, Jones, Mellette, Stanley, Tripp, Hughes and the Lyman County.

7th Judicial Circuit

: Pennington, Fall River, Shannon and the Custer and County.

These are general jurisdiction trial courts and they have the jurisdiction to hear both criminal as well as civil (for amounts that are less than or equal to $10,000) cases.

A directory for these circuits may also be found at

http://www.sdjudicial.com/CircuitsMain.htm

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Magistrate Courts of South Dakota

This is the lowest judicial body in the South Dakota court system. These courts have the jurisdiction to hear criminal offense cases that are minor in nature and those civil cases that are less serious. Magistrate judges or magistrates are the ones who have the authority to preside over the proceedings of these courts.

These courts are responsible for performing weddings, issue warrants, conduct some preliminary hearings, receive depositions, appoint counsel, set bail, accept class 2 misdemeanor pleas, and hear small-claim and civil cases that are non-contested where the damage involved is less than $8,000.

Magistrate judges have the authority to decide about temporary protection and try civil cases where the amount involved is less than $10,000.