The South Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
. It is composed of a
chief justice and four
associate justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...
s appointed by the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. One justice is selected from each of five geographic appointment districts. Justices face a nonpolitical retention election three years after appointment and every eight years after that. The justices also select their own chief justice.
The Supreme Court of South Dakota serves as the final
appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
in the state, reviewing the decisions of state
circuit courts.
''Unified Judicial System of South Dakota''
, South Dakota Supreme Court, rev. July 2002 The Supreme Court is also authorized to issue original or remedial writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...
s and provide advice to the governor regarding the scope of executive powers
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems ba ...
.
The court also provides administration for South Dakota's unified court system, preparing and submitting the judiciary's annual budget, appointing court personnel, and generally supervising the circuit courts. The court is also charged with making the rules covering practice and procedure, administration of the courts, terms of courts, admissions to the bar, and discipline of members of the bar within the state of South Dakota.
History
Territorial court
The Supreme Court of the Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...
was established in Yankton, South Dakota
Yankton is a city in and the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota, United States.
The population was 15,411 at the 2020 census, and it is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Y ...
in 1861. It was the first Territorial Supreme Court in American history. Initially, justices were appointed directly by the President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
. The first court consisted of three justices: Philemon Bliss
Philemon Bliss (July 28, 1813 – August 25, 1889) was an Ohio Congressman, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory, and a Missouri Supreme Court justice.
Early life and education
Bliss was born in Canton, Connecticut in ...
, Lorenzo P. Williston, and Joseph L. Williams, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. The court heard no cases until December 3, 1867. In 1879 the court enlarged to four justices, then six in 1884, and eight in 1888.
Statehood
In 1889, the Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...
was split into North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
and South Dakota, and the Territorial Supreme Court was formally dissolved by President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
. Bartlett Tripp
Bartlett Tripp (July 15, 1839 – December 8, 1911) was a diplomat, Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court, first professor of the University of South Dakota College of Law and first President of the South Dakota Bar Association.
H ...
served as the last Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory. He left the court in 1889 upon South Dakota's statehood and to become the 25th United States Ambassador to Austria
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Austria.
The United States first established diplomatic relations with Austria in 1838 during the time of the Austrian Empire. Relations between the United States have been continuous since t ...
.
An election was held in South Dakota to select the first state supreme court. Justices Dighton Corson
Dighton Corson (October 21, 1827May 7, 1915) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist, and was a pioneer of Wisconsin and South Dakota. He was one of first justices of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Biography
On October 21, 1827, Dight ...
, Alphonso G. Kellam, and John E. Bennett were elected and sworn-in October 15, 1889. Since there was no capitol building yet for the new state, the oath-taking ceremony took place on the Hughes County courthouse veranda.
The court was forced to use the county courthouse until 1891 when it began holding court in the state legislature's senate chambers. The South Dakota Supreme Court did not receive its own chambers until the autumn of 1905.
Modern day court
In 2002, Judith Meierhenry
Judith Meierhenry (born January 20, 1944) is a former Associate Justice and the first woman to serve on the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Early life and education
Meierhenry attended the University of South Dakota, receiving her Bachelor of Science ...
was appointed by Governor William Janklow
William John Janklow (September 13, 1939January 12, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party who holds the record for the longest tenure as Governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the t ...
as the first female Supreme Court Justice. She served until her retirement in 2011. In 2014, Janine Kern
Janine M. Kern (born February 14, 1961) is an American attorney and jurist serving as an associate justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Education
She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in 1982, and graduat ...
was appointed by Governor Dennis Daugaard
Dennis Martin Daugaard (born June 11, 1953) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 32nd governor of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first chief executive of a U.S. state to be the c ...
. At the time of her appointment she was the only Justice on the South Dakota Supreme Court to not receive admission via diploma privilege
In the United States, the diploma privilege is a method for lawyers to be admitted to the bar (i.e. authorized to practice law) without taking a bar examination. Wisconsin is the only jurisdiction that currently allows diploma privilege as an alt ...
. In 2017, she was joined by Steven R. Jensen who sat for the bar exam in 1988.
Districts
Candidates for selection as Justices for the South Dakota Supreme Court come from one of five Appointment Districts. These districts follow county lines as follows:
District 1
*Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
*Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
* Meade
* Pennington
District 2
*Minnehaha
Minnehaha is a Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem ''The Song of Hiawatha''. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing wat ...
District 3
*Bennett Bennett may refer to:
People
*Bennett (name), including a list of people with the surname and given name
Places Canada
* Bennett, Alberta
*Bennett, British Columbia
* Bennett Lake, in the British Columbia and Yukon Territory
**Bennett Range
**Benn ...
*Brookings Brookings may refer to:
Organizations
* Brookings Institution, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
Places
* Brookings, Oregon, USA
* Brookings, South Dakota, USA
* Brookings County, South Dakota, USA ...
* Brule
* Buffalo
*Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
* Haakon
*Hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...
*Hughes
Hughes may refer to:
People
* Hughes (surname)
* Hughes (given name)
Places Antarctica
* Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency
* Mount Hughes, Oates Land
* Hughes Basin, Oates Land
* Hughes Bay, Graham Land
* Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...
* Hyde
*Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Q ...
* Jerauld
*Jones
Jones may refer to:
People
*Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname
*List of people with surname Jones
* Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter
Arts and entertainment
* Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...
*Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent
** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station
* Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...
*Lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
* Lyman
* Mellette
*Miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
* Moody
*Oglala Lakota
The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
* Sanborn
*Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
* Sully
*Todd
Todd or Todds may refer to:
Places
;Australia:
* Todd River, an ephemeral river
;United States:
* Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community
* Todd, Missouri, a ghost town
* Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...
* Tripp
District 4
*Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
* Bon Homme
* Charles Mix
*Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
* Davison
*Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
* Gregory
*Hanson
Hanson or Hansson may refer to:
People
* Hanson (surname)
* Hansson (surname)
* Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler
Musical groups
* Hanson (band), an American pop rock band
* Hanson (UK band), an English rock ba ...
* Hutchinson
*Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln ...
* McCook
*Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turni ...
*Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
* Yankton
District 5
*Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
*Butte
__NOTOC__
In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...
*Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
*Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
* Codington
* Corson
*Day
A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...
* Deuel
* Dewey
*Edmunds Edmunds may refer to:
People
*Edmunds (given name)
*Edmunds (surname)
Places
* Edmunds Center, an arena in Deland, Florida
* Edmunds County, South Dakota
Companies
* Edmunds (company), provider of automotive information
See also
* Edmonds (dis ...
* Faulk
*Grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
*Hamlin Hamlin may refer to:
Places
* Hamlin, Iowa, a city
* Hamlin, Kansas, a city
* Hamlin, Kentucky, a town
* Hamlin, Maine, a town
* Hamlin, Michigan, a former community
* Hamlin, New York, a town
** Hamlin (CDP), New York, a census-designated pl ...
*Harding
Harding may refer to:
People
*Harding (surname)
*Maureen Harding Clark (born 1946), Irish jurist
Places Australia
* Harding River
Iran
* Harding, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province
South Africa
* Harding, KwaZulu-Natal
United Sta ...
*Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
* McPherson
*Perkins
Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England.
Another derivation com ...
*Potter
A potter is someone who makes pottery.
Potter may also refer to:
Places United States
*Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US
* Potter, Arkansas
*Potter, Nebraska
* Potters, New Je ...
* Roberts
*Spink
Spink may refer to:
* Spink, County Laois, a village in Ireland
* Spink County, South Dakota, US
* Spink Township, Union County, South Dakota, US
* Spink & Son, a UK auction and collectibles company
* Spink GAA, a Gaelic football club in Ireland
...
*Walworth
Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross.
Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...
* Ziebach
Justices
Supreme Court justices
The current justices of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
References
External links
South Dakota Judicial System Online
*
{{Authority control
Government of South Dakota
South Dakota state courts
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
1889 establishments in Dakota Territory
University of South Dakota School of Law alumni
Courts and tribunals established in 1889