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.

Continue reading “Q&A: Meet South Dakota’s first state public defender” →

Leaders within the state court system asked for patience on Wednesday as they pledged to address deficiencies in South Dakota’s system for delivering legal representation to people who can’t afford lawyers.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen and other officials conducted a virtual press conference two days after the release of a report that outlined challenges facing the state’s public defense framework.

Continue reading “State court leaders say reforms to public defense will take years, patience, engagement” →

A Colorado native and former teenage runaway with a criminal history who moved to South Dakota with her children and became a top student in a law enforcement program won’t be allowed to become a police officer in the state.

The state Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to deny certification for Samantha Hamm.

Continue reading “‘Exceptional’ law enforcement student denied police certification for past convictions” →

The South Dakota Forensic Lab has identified a DNA sample collected from an attempted rape case in 2022, leading to the reopening of the case. This breakthrough highlights the crucial role of forensic science in solving violent crimes and protecting victims.

Attorney General Jackley praised the lab’s efforts, stating, “The DNA and the State Forensic Lab’s work is a significant breakthrough in solving violent crime and protecting victims in South Dakota. Our South Dakota Forensic Lab sets the national standard, is one of the only state labs with contracts to complete FBI evidence testing, and often handles the challenging cases from other states.”

Continue reading “Breakthrough in SD Forensic Investigation Reopens 2022 Attempted Rape Case” →

On a Sunday evening in November 2015, Lori Mathes was in the kitchen of her gray and blue bungalow in Onawa, a small town in western Iowa. She was talking on the phone with her mother, she recalls, when four police officers barged in with their guns drawn. They said they were looking for her ex-husband, who had stopped by for a visit.

During the raid, police found a small amount — two grams — of marijuana belonging to Mathes, according to a police report. They charged her with felony drug possession; a conviction could land her in prison.

Continue reading “In Iowa, people too poor to pay for a lawyer are on the hook for big fees they can’t afford.” →

If you’ve got the need for speed, you should be careful about getting behind the wheel of a car. We at the MarketWatch Guides team analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Safety Council (NSC) and several other organizations to explore traffic ticket trends and how much a moving violation can cost you. Should you get ticketed for speeding, you won’t be paying cheap car insurance rates for long.

Continue reading “Traffic Ticket Statistics 2024” →

A new state government video intended to clarify South Dakota’s only abortion exception has not settled disputes over whether the exception’s legal language is clear enough.

Nancy Turbak Berry chairs the Freedom Amendment Coalition. The group supports Amendment G, a question on the Nov. 5 general election ballot that would legalize abortion in the state. She said the new video is not enough to help physicians, because the video is “ambiguous” and includes disclaimers that the information presented is “not legal advice” and “not legally binding.”

Continue reading “Divide remains on clarity of abortion exception after state releases video” →

A gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, on Wednesday morning and killed four people, including two students and two teachers.

Authorities were first notified of an active incident when Apalachee High School faculty and staff deployed Centegix CrisisAlert ID technology, equipped with an unobtrusive panic button, to alert officials by pressing down on the badge.

Continue reading “What is Centegix? The safety solution panic button used to notify police of Georgia school shooter” →

State investigators are looking into a third possible crime that took place within a South Dakota government agency.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley confirmed in a Friday press release the state Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating a “criminal matter” in the Department of Revenue.

Continue reading “Another South Dakota government agency is being investigated by the DCI. Which one?” →

More violent crimes are going unsolved in Minnesota today than a decade ago, according to FBI data analyzed by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a nonprofit working on criminal justice issues.

“In 2022, the year for which we have the most recent data, Minnesota saw 57% of violent crimes go unsolved, 5 percentage points higher than 2012,” the group said in a statement. “This trend contributes to decreased trust in the justice system and retaliatory violence that perpetuates a crisis that many communities face.”

Continue reading “More than half of violent crimes go unsolved in Minnesota” →