Opponents of South Dakota court consolidation say move would harm rural access to justice

The South Dakota Supreme Court heard concerns Monday at the Capitol in Pierre from people who said the proposed merger of two western judicial circuits could leave rural communities behind. The proposal would combine the state’s 4th and 7th Judicial Circuits into a single 12-county 4th Circuit headquartered in Rapid City, reducing the number of judicial circuits in South Dakota from seven to six. The 4th Judicial Circuit encompasses the northwestern part of the state, including Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins and Ziebach counties. The 7th Judicial Circuit includes the southwestern corner: Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties. State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn told justices more than 90% of court business in the affected counties occurs in just Pennington, Meade, Butte and Lawrence counties. He said the merger would allow the courts to share personnel and resources more effectively, and eliminate duplicate positions.

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