To increase operational efficiencies, the South Dakota State Court Administrator’s Office is proposing to combine the administrative structures of the Fourth and Seventh Judicial Circuits.
The Unified Judicial System’s Fourth Circuit consists of Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins and Ziebach counties. The Seventh Circuit consists of Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties.
South Dakota currently has seven judicial circuits. The State Court Administrator’s Office provides centralized administrative assistance and support services to each of them to ensure efficient and responsive operation.
A series of public forums will be held on Aug. 26, 2026, to present information related to the proposal and gather comments and feedback in advance of any formal rule proposal to the South Dakota Supreme Court. Following a short presentation by the State Court Administrator’s Office, there will be an opportunity for public comments and questions. The public forum locations are:
- Rapid City: Pennington County Courthouse (Courtroom C2), 315 St. Joseph St., 8:30-9:30 a.m. MDT
- Sturgis: Meade County Courthouse (Courtroom 3), 1425 Sherman St., 11 a.m.-noon MDT
- Lemmon: Lonesome Dove Conference Center, 312 Main Ave., 3:30-4:30 p.m. MDT
Written input or comments may be submitted to the State Court Administrator’s Office:
by email to comment@ujs.state.sd.us or
by mail to State Court Administrator’s Office, Attention: Judicial Circuit Merger Proposal, 500 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.
The deadline to submit written input or comments is Oct. 1, 2026.
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