Lincoln County staff recommend budgeting for a county public defender office; commissioners add numbers to draft budget

Sherry Lund, Lincoln County auditor, told commissioners July 8 that a committee reviewing indigent defense recommends creating a county public defender office (PDO) and placing preliminary budget numbers in the county’s draft budget for review.

Lund said South Dakota currently does not fully fund indigent defense and that 2024 legislation allocated $3,000,000 to reimburse some costs; she characterized that amount as covering about 12% of statewide indigent defense costs. The committee’s fiscal summary included an estimated $2,065,980 in PDO‑related expenses and a personnel budget scenario of $577,639 for a 2026 starter team (one public defender, one deputy, a law office assistant and a receptionist). A fuller staffing model for 2027 was presented at roughly $1,472,113 to support additional attorneys and support staff.

Commissioners asked how much of current outside‑counsel spending would shift into an in‑house office and pressed staff on recruiting and retention, parity with prosecutors and the long‑term commitment of creating a county‑run office. Lund said some costs for juveniles and conflict counsel would shift to the PDO but that conflicts would remain and require outside contracting in many cases.

After discussion, a commissioner moved and Otten seconded a motion to add the PDO budget numbers to the county’s draft budget for review; the motion passed on roll call. No formal resolution to create the office was adopted at the meeting; Lund said the numbers will be included for budget planning and further work would be required to finalize a creation proposal and any necessary intergovernmental arrangements (the committee had discussed, but not finalized, a potential joint office with Minnehaha County).