Chief Justice Jensen outlines statewide indigent defense overhaul, pretrial proposals and courthouse security plans

Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen delivered the 2025 State of the Judiciary message to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature, saying the courts will move from a county-managed indigent defense model toward a statewide system and seek legislative authorization for expanded trial-level services.

Jensen said the legislature enacted legislation this past session to create a Commission on Indigent Legal Services and to fund an Office of Indigent Legal Services, and he outlined next steps for implementation at the trial-court level. The new office received $1,400,000 in ongoing funding and the legislature also authorized a one-time $3,000,000 appropriation to counties, Jensen said.

The chief justice said the commission has already begun work, selecting a law-school dean to chair the panel and hiring Chris Miles as chief defender to run the new office. He told lawmakers the office initially will handle court-appointed criminal appeals, habeas corpus matters and child-abuse-and-neglect appeals, and that expanding to trial-level regional public defender positions will require additional statutory authorization and agreements about…