A deputy public defender from Sioux Falls will head up the recently created state Office of Indigent Legal Services, according to an announcement Wednesday from the Unified Judicial System.
Christopher Miles, 35, will leave the Minnehaha County Public Defender’s Office to lead a team of four lawyers, a paralegal and a legal secretary. The office in Sioux Falls will primarily be tasked with representing those who cannot afford an attorney in their appeals to the South Dakota Supreme Court, but will also serve as a data hub for public defense and work on ways to improve its delivery across the state.
Lawmakers signed off on the new office this year, as well as on the creation of a Commission on Indigent Legal Services, at the urging of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen. The office was the number one recommendation of a study group that spent 2023 looking into issues with the state’s approach to indigent defense.
Most states already have a state-level public defender’s office, but South Dakota did not.
That’s been a burden for the counties that pick up the tab for public defense, especially in recent years. There are only three fully staffed county public defender offices in the state, and most counties contract with private attorneys. Those roles are often difficult to fill in rural areas, as most lawyers live in larger cities including Sioux Falls, Rapid City or Pierre.
“The Commission was fortunate to have exceptional candidates for the chief defender position. We are excited about Chris Miles being the first chief defender,” said Commission on Indigent Legal Services Chair Neil Fulton, who is dean of the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law.
Miles recently answered questions from South Dakota Searchlight. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us about your background.
I grew up in Brookings and graduated from Brookings High School. After that, I actually went on to play baseball at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, but ended up making my way back home and graduated from South Dakota State University.
I did end up going to law school in St Paul, to William Mitchell College of Law.
When did you join the Minnehaha County Public Defender’s Office, how long have you been there, and what was it that drew you to the work?
I started doing public defense work with Minnehaha County Public Defender’s Office all the way back in November of 2015.
You know, I feel like just the sense of fairness was always something that was kind of a fundamental principle for me. I think with public defense work specifically, it was a way for me to apply myself in the court system, really, with that fairness principle leading the way.
You can read the full article at South Dakota Searchlight.