Court Services, 4^th Judicial
The 4^th Circuit is comprised of eight counties.  The Chief Court Services Officer Derrick Nedved, Chief Court Services Officer is located in the Lawrence County Courthouse, along with three Court Services Officers, one Juvenile Intensive Probation Officer, and two Support Staff.  In addition, one Court Services Officer and one Support Staff work out of the Belle Fourche office; while three Court Services Officers and one Support Staff work in the Sturgis office.             

The Court Services Department is responsible for the daily supervision of both juvenile and adult offenders.  It is their responsibility to ensure that the probationers follow through with their court ordered obligations.  They are also responsible for preparing numerous reports to the court.  Support Staff play a huge role in assisting the Court Services Officers in preparing reports, along with other important responsibilities.  Because the 4^th Circuit is such a diversified area, Court Service Officers are involved in every type of probation case possible ranging from bad checks to DUI’s to drug related cases and many other types of felony and misdemeanor related cases.  The circuit takes pride in maintaining a close working relationship with outside agencies and the judges. 

On average, the 4^th Circuit supervises or is involved with approximately 700 adults and 200 juveniles on a monthly basis.

The 4^th Circuit is somewhat unique in that the four Circuit Court Judges preside over court in the northern counties (Ziebach, Dewey, Corson, Perkins) on a three month rotation basis each year.  Specifically, every other Monday, a Circuit Court Judge, a Court Reporter and a Court Services Officer (normally from the Sturgis Office) will travel to Ziebach County, Dewey County and Corson County and hold court at specified times - spend the night in Lemmon, South Dakota - and on Tuesday morning travel to Bison (Perkins County) for court that day.  In addition to being present in the courtroom, the Court Services Officer is responsible for meeting with probationers during the trip.  The trip, which is commonly referred to as the “North Run”, is approximately a 500 mile round trip.  The Court Services Officers in the Sturgis office cover this North Run on a six month rotation basis, which is repeated every other week throughout the year. 

During the first part of August each year, the annual Motorcycle Rally is held in Sturgis.  This rally brings in anywhere from 500,000 to 800,000 plus people for a two week period.  Due to the magnitude in the numbers of people who attend the rally, the Sturgis office is particularly busy during this time requiring court to be held on Saturdays and Sundays.  The Deadwood and Belle Fourche offices also see an increase in new cases during this time period, sometimes requiring court to be held on weekends. 

The Deadwood area is also viewed as a tourist community.  The area is able to provide numerous activities for everyone from gambling to winter sports to sight seeing.  Deadwood became well known as a result of the new Deadwood Series television program and because of the most recent country music video taping of Big & Rich on Deadwood’s Historic Main Street, as well as Kevin Coster’s casino – The Midnight Star. 

In 1959, Belle Fourche, South Dakota was designated as the geographical center of the United States of America.  The Belle Fourche area and the Northern counties are more farming and ranching type communities.  The Court Services Officer in Belle Fourche is also responsible for covering Harding County.
 

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