The South Dakota Commission on Indigent Legal Services has chosen Chris Miles to be the first ever chief defender for the new state Office of Indigent Legal Services. He will be based in Sioux Falls.
Created during the 2024 South Dakota Legislative Session, the Commission is tasked with expanding the efficiency and efficacy of indigent criminal defense across South Dakota. The law directed that the initial focus of the Commission and Office be on providing statewide representation for criminal cases on direct appeal.
Miles says the Commission has recognized there are significant challenges in ensuring quality legal representation for those who are unable to access it or afford it. He says this new effort marks a crucial step forward in safeguarding the rights of indigent defendants and upholding the core principles of fairness and due process.
Commission on Indigent Legal Services Chair Neil Fulton, a native of Miller, is Dean of the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law. Fulton says Miles has excellent experience in criminal litigation at both the trial and appellate level and his reputation for integrity and ability is exceptional. He says the initial focus for Miles and his office will be to establish protocols for handling appeals and on hiring attorneys and support personnel to litigate those appeals. Currently that responsibility tends to be on county governments.
In the coming weeks, Miles will be posting job openings to begin hiring other attorneys and support personnel.
Miles has been employed with the Minnehaha County Public Defender Office since 2015. He has served as a senior deputy public defender and as a senior trial attorney. In that role, he has supervised attorneys handling adult criminal cases, juvenile cases, and child abuse and neglect proceedings. Miles has had a particular focus on appellate practice before the South Dakota Supreme Court.
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