Public forums on Wednesday held by the South Dakota Unified Judicial System (UJS) will share information with the public and ask for their feedback regarding the proposed merger of the Fourth and Seventh judicial circuits.
The state court system will hold three forums in western South Dakota on Wednesday over its plan to merge two circuits into one.
The South Dakota Unified Judicial System (UJS) on Aug. 26 will provide residents of the Fourth and Seventh judicial circuits with information and give them the opportunity to provide feedback before a formal rule proposal is submitted to the South Dakota Supreme Court.
According a press release from the UJS, here are the times and locations of Wednesday's public forums:
- Rapid City: Pennington County Courthouse (Courtroom C2), 315 St. Joseph St., 8:30-9:30 a.m. MDT
- Sturgis: Meade County Courthouse (Courtroom 3), 1425 Sherman St., 11 a.m.-noon MDT
- Lemmon: Lonesome Dove Conference Center, 312 Main Ave., 3:30-4:30 p.m. MDT
The press release stated that the proposed merger intends to increase operational efficiencies in the UJS by combining the Fourth Circuit (northern Black Hills) and Seventh Circuit (southern Black Hills).
According to UJS' website, the unified system was first enacted in 1975 through a constitutional amendment, beginning with nine circuits. In 1976, the Supreme Court reduced the number of circuits to eight and then to seven in 2000, South Dakota Searchlight reported.
The UJS stated in its fiscal year 2025 annual report that there are currently 46 circuit judges in South Dakota, and each circuit has one presiding judge.
Not all circuits are equal in terms of the population size they serve. According to the 2025 annual report, the Seventh Circuit served 144,356 residents, whereas the Fourth Circuit served 84,181 residents.
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Neil Fulton, dean of the University of South Dakota's Knudson School of Law in Vermillion, said in sparser geographic areas such those in the Fourth Circuit, there may be challenges in the availability of court resources. That also means caseloads vary from district-to-district, which is an issue in metropolitan areas like Sioux Falls.
"I think it is really intended to best allocate folks on the greatest number of cases they can to, one, not burn judicial personnel out and, two, make sure cases and filings are being addressed in a timely, effective fashion for all citizens," he said.
Fulton said not everyone will agree on the best way to structure the circuits, but he hopes everyone stays focused on addressing discrepancies in available resources.
Besides offering feedback at the forums, South Dakotans can submit written input or comments via mail or email to the administrator's office is Oct. 1.
The UJS's administrative office deferred an interview request until after the public forum.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, subscribe for free and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Elena Tittel's internship was funded with support from the Nonprofit Newsroom Internship Program created by The Scripps Howard Fund and the Institute for Nonprofit News. Contact: elena.tittel@sdnewswatch.org.
