InSouth Dakota, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, and trial courts of general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through South Dakota's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of South Dakota's state court system.

Judicial selection process

See also:Judicial selection in South Dakota andSouth Dakota judicial elections

Selection of state court judges in South Dakota occurs through a hybrid of appointments and elections. Though all part of the state'sunified judicial system, the supreme, circuit, and magistrate courts each select their judges differently.^[1][2]

To read more about judicial elections in South Dakota,click here.

Federal courts

Thefederal district court in South Dakota is theUnited States District Court for the District of South Dakota. This court may hear appeals from state courts and is also the point of origination for federal cases and lawsuits.

Appeals go to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Active judges

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 3
• Republican appointed: 0

Judicial selection

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by thepresident of the United States and confirmed by theUnited States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, clickhere.

Bankruptcy courts

There is onefederal bankruptcy court in South Dakota. This court has subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy court in South Dakota is:

• United States bankruptcy court, District of South Dakota

State supreme court

See also:South Dakota Supreme Court

Founded in 1861, the South Dakota Supreme Court is the state'scourt of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court isSteven Jensen.

As of August 2021, all five judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.

The following judges sit on the court:

Trial courts

Circuit courts

See also:South Dakota Circuit Courts

South Dakota Circuit Courts are courts of general jurisdiction inSouth Dakota. The sixty-six counties in the state are divided into seven judicial circuits with 44 judicial circuit judges.^[3]

Magistrate courts

See also:South Dakota Magistrate Courts

TheMagistrate Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction inSouth Dakota. The 16 magisterial court judges handle misdemeanor criminal offenses and less severe civil courts than theCircuit Courts.^[3]

In other states

See also

• Judicial selection in South Dakota
• South Dakota judicial elections

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• South Dakota Supreme Court

Footnotes

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