(C) South Dakota Searchlight This story was originally published by South Dakota Searchlight and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Law school dean, public defender, judge appointed to state public defense commission • South Dakota Searchlight [1] ['John Hult', 'More From Author', '- April'] Date: 2024-04-02 The chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court has appointed a law school dean, a deputy public defender and a Winner-based circuit judge to a commission that will monitor and guide the work of the new state public defender office, leaving only one commission seat left to fill. The commission will oversee the Office of Indigent Legal Services. It was borne of legislation that changed South Dakota’s status as the only state in the nation to saddle counties with the entire financial burden of delivering constitutionally required legal representation to those who cannot afford it. The office will be led by a yet-unhired chief defender, who will handle criminal and child abuse and neglect appeals, as well as challenges to detention from incarcerated people. Counties will continue to fund representation in other cases. In addition to oversight of the state-level office’s work, the commission is meant to “oversee indigent representation services to ensure the effective assistance of counsel in South Dakota’s court system,” according to a Tuesday news release from the state Unified Judicial System. The office will cost $1.4 million annually, but is expected to save counties $2.1 million each year. The commission consists of three members appointed by the governor, three by the chief justice, and one each from the state Senate president pro tempore, speaker of the state House of Representatives and the executive director of the South Dakota Association of County Commissioners. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen announced his three in the Tuesday news release. They are: Neil Fulton, dean of the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, appointed to a four-year term. Betsy Doyle, deputy public defender for Minnehaha County, appointed to a three-year term. Bobbi Rank, circuit judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, appointed to a one-year term. Jensen, who lobbied for the creation of the indigent defense office, said the commission will help protect a critical right for South Dakota citizens. “Ensuring the right to counsel for every person accused of a crime is fundamental to upholding the right of due process — that is the right to be heard and present a defense to a charge by the government,” Jensen said in the release. Gov. Kristi Noem was the first to name members to the commission. On March 18, the day she signed the bill creating the office and the commission, she announced the appointment of former judge and former attorney general Larry Long, State Bar President Heather Lammers Bogard and private attorney Dick Travis. Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, who works as a private attorney and is not seeking reelection this year, appointed himself to the commission on Veto Day, the last official day of the 2024 legislative session. House Speaker Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown, appointed Rep. David Kull, a Brandon Republican and former Brandon police chief. The South Dakota Association of County Commissioners has submitted a name, Executive Director Kris Jacobsen said, but the appointment is not yet official. [END] --- [1] Url: https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/04/02/law-school-dean-public-defender-judge-appointed-to-state-public-defense-commission/ Published and (C) by South Dakota Searchlight Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/sdsearchlight/