The South Dakota Office of Indigent Legal Services is spending $3 million to reimburse counties for some of the dollars they’ve spent paying court appointed attorney fees for people who couldn’t afford to pay for their own legal representation.
University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law Dean Neil Fulton chairs the Commission on Indigent Legal Services. He says in partnership with the state Treasurer, the Commission gathered data on total expenditures for court-appointed attorneys, public defender offices and representation of abused and neglected children.
The data collected shows Hughes County has accrued a total debt of more than $819-thousand ($819,428.92) and was allocated about $97-thousand ($97,051.22). In Stanley County, the data shows a debt of over $99,500 ($99,652.08) and they will get just over $11,800 ($11,802.56). Brule County is getting over $20-thousand; Gregory, more than $8500; Walworth, over $12,500; and Edmunds almost $1700.
| Central South Dakota Counties | Court-Appointed Attorney & Public Defender Offices Gross Expenditures | Abused & Neglected Children Gross Expenditures | Total Gross Expenditures | Total Funds Allocated |
| Brule | $ 144,855.41 | $ 27,781.16 | $ 172,636.57 | $ 20,446.67 |
| Buffalo | $ 21,059.53 | $0 | $ 21,059.53 | $ 2,494.24 |
| Campbell | $ 19,285.44 | $0 | $ 19,285.44 | $ 2,284.12 |
| Corson | $ 46,743.12 | $ 518.94 | $ 47,262.06 | $ 5,597.61 |
| Dewey | $ 8,100.28 | $0 | $ 8,100.28 | $ 959.38 |
| Edmunds | $ 14,262.89 | $0 | $ 14,262.89 | $ 1,689.26 |
| Faulk | $ 8,968.20 | $0 | $ 8,968.20 | $ 1,062.17 |
| Gregory | $ 72,286.73 | $0 | $ 72,286.73 | $ 8,561.47 |
| Haakon | $ 22,609.73 | $0 | $ 22,609.73 | $ 2,677.84 |
| Hand | $ 17,362.10 | $ 849.40 | $ 18,211.50 | $ 2,156.93 |
| Hughes | $ 819,428.92 | $0 | $ 819,428.92 | $ 97,051.22 |
| Hyde | $ 6,475.05 | $0 | $ 6,475.05 | $ 766.89 |
| Jackson | $ 80,998.38 | $ 4,843.53 | $ 85,841.91 | $ 10,166.91 |
| Jones | $ 36,610.08 | $0 | $ 36,610.08 | $ 4,336.01 |
| Lyman | $ 79,288.36 | $0 | $ 79,288.36 | $ 9,390.73 |
| McPherson | $ 13,224.28 | $0 | $ 13,224.28 | $ 1,566.25 |
| Mellette | $ 73,588.43 | $0 | $ 73,588.43 | $ 8,715.64 |
| Potter | $ 17,641.57 | $0 | $ 17,641.57 | $ 2,089.43 |
| Stanley | $ 99,652.08 | $0 | $ 99,652.08 | $ 11,802.56 |
| Sully | $ 10,772.63 | $ 6,800.51 | $ 17,573.14 | $ 2,081.32 |
| Todd | $ 4,281.19 | $0 | $ 4,281.19 | $ 507.05 |
| Tripp | $ 53,603.97 | $ 1,346.79 | $ 54,950.76 | $ 6,508.24 |
| Walworth | $ 83,211.81 | $ 22,897.42 | $ 106,109.23 | $ 12,567.33 |
| Ziebach | $ 10,777.88 | $0 | $ 10,777.88 | $ 1,276.51 |
| Other South Dakota Counties | Court-Appointed Attorney & Public Defender Offices Gross Expenditures | Abused & Neglected Children Gross Expenditures | Total Gross Expenditures | Total Funds Allocated |
| Aurora | $ 19,157.32 | $ 7,690.25 | $ 26,847.57 | $ 3,179.76 |
| Beadle | $ 45,101.43 | $ 15,076.40 | $ 60,177.83 | $ 7,127.32 |
| Bennett | $ 134,805.85 | $ 5,590.11 | $ 140,395.96 | $ 16,628.17 |
| Bon Homme | $ 113,582.48 | $ 4,305.13 | $ 117,887.61 | $ 13,962.33 |
| Brookings | $ 530,822.09 | $ 37,375.10 | $ 568,197.19 | $ 67,295.93 |
| Brown | $ 791,575.76 | $ 27,215.14 | $ 818,790.90 | $ 96,975.66 |
| Butte | $ 242,968.83 | $ 14,639.97 | $ 257,608.80 | $ 30,510.58 |
| Charles Mix | $ 310,128.69 | $ 48,761.63 | $ 358,890.32 | $ 42,506.12 |
| Clark | $ 31,487.44 | $0 | $ 31,487.44 | $ 3,729.30 |
| Clay | $ 182,086.52 | $ 4,029.00 | $ 186,115.52 | $ 22,043.08 |
| Codington | $ 1,120,073.00 | $0 | $ 1,120,073.00 | $ 132,658.80 |
| Custer | $ 107,208.55 | $ 5,684.40 | $ 112,892.95 | $ 13,370.77 |
| Davison | $ 504,297.13 | $ 7,868.47 | $ 512,165.60 | $ 60,659.68 |
| Day | $ 98,661.45 | $ 500.00 | $ 99,161.45 | $ 11,744.45 |
| Deuel | $ 21,167.34 | $0 | $ 21,167.34 | $ 2,507.01 |
| Douglas | $ 16,839.90 | $0 | $ 16,839.90 | $ 1,994.48 |
| Fall River | $ 284,010.07 | $ 21,562.81 | $ 305,572.88 | $ 36,191.33 |
| Grant | $ 65,948.39 | $ 7,586.15 | $ 73,534.54 | $ 8,709.26 |
| Hamlin | $ 48,668.43 | $0 | $ 48,668.43 | $ 5,764.17 |
| Hanson | $ 60,133.00 | $0 | $ 60,133.00 | $ 7,122.01 |
| Harding | $ 2,623.07 | $0 | $ 2,623.07 | $ 310.67 |
| Hutchinson | $ 45,722.96 | $ 256.80 | $ 45,979.76 | $ 5,445.73 |
| Jerauld | $ 14,012.38 | $ 1,719.26 | $ 15,731.64 | $ 1,863.22 |
| Kingsbury | $ 13,298.07 | $0 | $ 13,298.07 | $ 1,574.99 |
| Lake | $ 263,670.06 | $ 18,731.08 | $ 282,401.14 | $ 33,446.92 |
| Lawrence | $ 581,484.85 | $ 44,412.29 | $ 625,897.14 | $ 74,129.78 |
| Lincoln | $ 1,476,865.58 | $ 53,118.80 | $ 1,529,984.38 | $ 181,207.73 |
| Marshall | $ 36,227.25 | $ 392.90 | $ 36,620.15 | $ 4,337.20 |
| McCook | $ 185,792.64 | $ 15,592.66 | $ 201,385.30 | $ 23,851.60 |
| Meade | $ 525,339.76 | $ 20,288.11 | $ 545,627.87 | $ 64,622.88 |
| Miner | $ 16,846.80 | $ 833.50 | $ 17,680.30 | $ 2,094.01 |
| Minnehaha | $ 7,237,860.72 | $ 483,683.74 | $ 7,721,544.46 | $ 914,521.47 |
| Moody | $ 174,044.89 | $ 11,472.31 | $ 185,517.20 | $ 21,972.22 |
| Oglala Lakota | $ 3,145.84 | $0 | $ 3,145.84 | $ 372.59 |
| Pennington | $ 5,467,690.65 | $ 461,394.00 | $ 5,929,084.65 | $ 702,226.77 |
| Perkins | $ 24,319.99 | $ 651.10 | $ 24,971.09 | $ 2,957.52 |
| Roberts | $ 459,563.01 | $0 | $ 459,563.01 | $ 54,429.56 |
| Sanborn | $ 19,851.55 | $0 | $ 19,851.55 | $ 2,351.17 |
| Spink | $ 83,600.25 | $ 12,222.77 | $ 95,823.02 | $ 11,349.05 |
| Turner | $ 125,783.02 | $0 | $ 125,783.02 | $ 14,897.44 |
| Union | $ 250,293.26 | $0 | $ 250,293.26 | $ 29,644.14 |
| Yankton | $ 410,137.06 | $ 20,109.19 | $ 430,246.25 | $ 50,957.35 |
| Totals for all counties | $23,911,985.39 | $1,417,800.82 | $25,329,786.21 | $3,000,000.00 |
This year’s (2024) state legislature appropriated the dollars which will be distributed in the coming weeks. Each county’s dollar amount will be pro-rated so every county receives an equitable share, based on their expenditures for indigent defense.
Fulton says the expenditures were certified by each county for fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024) and the same percentage ratios applied to ensure consistent distribution of the $3 million. He says the South Dakota Unified Judicial System is overseeing and administering the distribution of the dollars.
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