Policing & Justice

The program, Lost In Court: A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Criminal Cases, will help South Dakota journalists and students gain credibility and confidence in navigating what can be a daunting assignment. 

A child abuse allegation against a teacher at Dupree Elementary School prompted the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to take the unusual step of banning the teacher, a principal and the superintendent from reservation lands, causing division among many in this sparsely populated region of north-central South Dakota.

A new education program for jail inmates in Pennington County aims to break the cycle of repeated incarceration among people who are addicted, have mental health challenges or lack the skills to function in society.

South Dakota's federal judge openings have gone unfilled for the past 20 months, prompting political scrutiny of the process and a shuffling of workloads for other federal judges.

Serenity Dennard disappeared from the Black Hills Children's Home four years ago, and more questions than answers remain about what happened to the 9-year-old girl. Law enforcement and volunteers conducted the largest search in state history and found no trace of her. The mystery led to safety improvements at the home, conspiracy theories in the community and ongoing anguish for those who loved, cared for and searched for Serenity.

A bill now under consideration by the state Legislature seeks to find the right balance in assessment of juvenile offenders to determine which should be sent back to school and which should be sent to jail. Developing a suitable assessment tool and process has proven challenging as school officials say they are handling too many delinquents but advocates for reform at the same time push for greater alternatives to juvenile incarcerations.

Peter Smith, CEO of the Rural Office of Community Services, remains director of the South Dakota non-profit social services agency despite being the subject of a workplace sexual harassment and retaliation investigation by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Investigation that resulted in a $320,000 settlement payment to several former female employees.

Despite a 2020 law restricting cell phone use by drivers, and numerous public-information campaigns, distracted driving remains a significant cause of injuries and deaths in car crashes in South Dakota and across the United States. Police officers continue to crack down on the risky behaviors, but a new outreach effort will use a multi-pronged approach to try to keep people focused on the road ahead.

A new statewide poll shows that a majority of registered South Dakota voters supports greater gun-control measures in the state, even as elected officials continue down a path of trying to make guns easier to buy and carry.

A July 2022 poll of registered South Dakota voters shows a majority do not support legalization of recreational marijuana, which will be up for a statewide vote on Initiated Measure 27 in the November 2022 election. Supporters of legalization question the validity of the poll findings, which run counter to other poll results and to the result of the 2020 election in which voters approved a constitutional amendment -- later overturned in the courts -- to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use in South Dakota.