South Dakota Supreme Court

The South Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of South Dakota. It is composed of a chief justice and four associate justices appointed by the governor. One justice is selected from each of five geographic appointment districts. Justices face a nonpolitical retention election three years after appointment and every eight years after that. The justices also select their own chief justice.

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South Dakota Supreme Court Appointment Districts
Justices
Justice Steven R. Jensen Image
Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen
 Chief Justice Jensen was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Dennis Daugaard. He was sworn in on November 3, 2017. Chief Justice Jensen was selected by his colleagues on the Court to serve as Chief Justice beginning in January, 2021. He was reselected to a second, four-year term as Chief Justice beginning Jan. 6, 2025. Chief Justice Jensen represents the Fourth Supreme Court District consisting of Union, Clay, Yankton, Hutchinson, Hanson, Davison, Bon Homme, Douglas, Aurora, Charles Mix, Gregory, McCook, Turner and Lincoln Counties. Justice Jensen grew up on a farm near Wakonda, South Dakota. He received his undergraduate degree from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1985 and his Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1988. He clerked for Justice Richard W. Sabers on the South Dakota Supreme Court before entering private practice in 1989. In 2003, Chief Justice Jensen was appointed as a First Judicial Circuit Judge by former Governor Mike Rounds. He became the Presiding Judge of the First Judicial Circuit in 2011. Chief Justice Jensen served as chair of the Unified Judicial System’s Presiding Judges Council, president of the SD Judges Association, and has served on other boards and commissions. In 2009, Chief Justice Jensen was appointed as a Judicial Fellow to the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center in Washington D.C. Justice Jensen and his wife, Sue, have three children and three grandchildren.
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Justice Janine M. Kern Image
Justice Janine M. Kern
 Justice Kern, who was appointed to the Supreme Court on November 25, 2014, by Governor Dennis Daugaard, represents the First Supreme Court District, which includes Custer, Lawrence, Meade and Pennington counties. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982 from Arizona State University and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1985. Justice Kern worked in the Attorney General’s office from 1985–1996 serving in a variety of capacities including the appellate division, drug prosecution unit and as Director of the Litigation Division. She was appointed a Circuit Court Judge in 1996 in the Seventh Judicial Circuit comprised of Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington Counties and served 18 years on the trial court bench. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the State Bar Association, the Pennington County Bar Association, the American Bar Association Fellows and past President of the South Dakota Judges Association. She served on the Council of Juvenile Services from 2004–2013 and on the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice from 2004–2008 and on numerous other boards and commissions. Justice Kern and her husband Greg Biegler make their home in the beautiful Black Hills.
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Justice Mark E. Salter Image
Justice Mark E. Salter
 Justice Salter began as a member of the Supreme Court on July 9, 2018, following his appointment by Governor Dennis Daugaard. Justice Salter received a Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University in 1990 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1993. After clerking for a Minnesota state district court, he served on active duty in the United States Navy until 1997 and later served in the United States Naval Reserve. Justice Salter practiced law with the Sioux Falls firm of Cutler & Donahoe, where he became a partner before leaving in 2004 to return to public service with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota. As an Assistant United States Attorney, Justice Salter focused on appellate practice and became the chief of the office’s Appellate Division in 2009. He was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge by Governor Daugaard and served in the Second Judicial Circuit from 2013 until his appointment to the Supreme Court in 2018. Justice Salter served as the presiding judge of the Minnehaha County Veterans Treatment Court from its inception in 2016 until 2019. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law where he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure and continues to teach Advanced Appellate Advocacy. Justice Salter represents the Second Supreme Court District which includes Minnehaha County. He and his wife, Sue, have four children.
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Justice Patricia J. DeVaney
 Justice DeVaney was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Kristi Noem to represent the Third Supreme Court District. She was sworn in on May 23, 2019. Justice DeVaney was born and raised in Hand County and graduated from Polo High School in 1986. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1990 from the University of South Dakota, majoring in political science, and received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1993. Justice DeVaney began her career of public service as an Assistant Attorney General in the South Dakota Office of Attorney General, where she practiced law from 1993 to 2012. She began her practice in the appellate division, then moved to the litigation division where she spent seventeen years as a trial lawyer, prosecuting major felony offenses as well as representing the State in civil litigation in both state and federal trial and appellate courts. During her tenure at the Attorney General’s Office, she also handled administrative matters for state agencies and professional licensing boards. Justice DeVaney was appointed by Governor Dennis Daugaard as a Circuit Judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit in 2012, where she presided over criminal, civil and juvenile proceedings, heard administrative appeals, and assisted as the second judge for the Sixth Circuit DUI/Drug Court. Justice DeVaney has served as the Secretary-Treasurer and President of the South Dakota Judges Association. She has also co-chaired the South Dakota Supreme Court’s Commission on Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession and serves as Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court’s Courthouse Security Committee. Justice DeVaney and her husband, Fred, have three children.
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Justice Scott P. Myren Image
Justice Scott P. Myren
 Justice Scott P. Myren, who was sworn in to represent the Fifth Supreme Court District on January 5, 2021, was appointed by Governor Kristi Noem. Justice Myren grew up on his family farm in rural Campbell County and graduated from Mobridge High School in 1982. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree, double majoring in history and political science from the University of South Dakota in 1985. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University in 1988, where he was the Research Editor of the Rutgers Law Journal. Justice Myren practiced law in Denver, Colorado, before returning to South Dakota to work as a staff attorney for the South Dakota Supreme Court. He served as an administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings and magistrate judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. In 2003 he was appointed as a circuit judge for the Fifth Judicial Circuit by Governor M. Michael Rounds. He was re-elected to that position by the voters in 2006 and 2014. Chief Justice David Gilbertson appointed him the Presiding Judge for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in 2014. Justice Myren served as chair of the Unified Judicial System’s Presiding Judges’ Council and president of the South Dakota Judges’ Association. He served on numerous committees, including the Court Improvement Program and Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, which he chaired. He was selected as a Judicial Fellow to the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center in Washington D.C., in 2009. He served on Governor Daugaard’s South Dakota Criminal Justice Initiative workgroup and Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Initiative workgroup. He supervised the rural and urban pilot programs, which led to the implementation of Hope Probation across South Dakota. He served as Drug Court and DUI court judge for Brown County. He and his wife, Dr. Virginia Trexler-Myren, have two daughters. The Fifth Supreme Court District includes Harding, Butte, Perkins, Corson, Ziebach, Dewey, Campbell, Walworth, Potter, McPherson, Edmunds, Faulk, Brown, Spink, Marshall, Day, Clark, Codington, Hamlin, Roberts, Grant, and Deuel Counties.
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Past & Present
 The above photograph was taken at an event at the University of South Dakota School of Law announcing a scholarship created to honor the late Justice Steven L. Zinter (2002-2018).

Pictured left to right are: Justice Lori Wilbur (2011-2017); Justice Mark Salter (2018-present); Chief Justice Roger Wollman (1971-1985); Justice Steven Jensen (2017-present); Justice Richard Sabers (1986-2008); Justice Glen Severson (2009-2018); Justice Robert Amundson (1991-2002); Justice Janine Kern (2014-present); Chief Justice David Gilbertson (1995-present); Justice Patricia DeVaney (2019-present) and Justice Judith Meierhenry (2002-2011).

The only current living justices that have served on the South Dakota Supreme Court that are not pictured are Justice Laurence Zastrow (1976-1979); Chief Justice Robert Miller (1986-2001) and Justice John Konenkamp (1994-2014).
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