Court Case Questions
Neither Clerk of Courts staff nor the judge can recommend an individual attorney to help you.
In some criminal cases, the court may appoint specific counsel for you if you qualify by meeting certain financial guidelines. If you feel that you are financially unable to afford a lawyer, you may request the court to appoint counsel to represent you. You must be charged with a crime to apply, and the court will not appoint council to represent you in a civil trial. Learn more.
The State Bar of South Dakota’s Lawyer Referral Service is a public service which helps people find qualified, local lawyers. Call 800-952-2333 or visit https://findalawyerinsd.com.
Three nonprofits provide legal aid to low-income individuals in South Dakota. Learn more.
Complaints against your attorney depend on the nature of your complaint and whether the attorney was chosen by you or appointed by the court. Discussing your concerns with the attorney may resolve your issues. If your attorney was court appointed, you may ask the court to consider appointing someone else. There is a grievance process available through the State Bar of South Dakota. Learn more.
Your attorney will arrange for necessary hearings. However, if you are not represented by an attorney, you should contact the Clerk of Courts office in the county where your case is pending. The clerk will be able to tell you if those arrangements can be made through that office, or if the judge will need to be consulted. The answer will depend on the kind of case you have, the nature of hearing requested, how much time might be needed, and availability of the judge.
Generally, no, but it depends. All contact with a judge regarding any matters related to court cases (pending or not) should occur through your attorney. This ensures that the proper rules and laws are followed regarding communications with a judge and notice to the other parties in a case.
If you are not represented by an attorney, your best option is to write a letter to the judge, in care of the Clerk of Courts office for the county where your case is pending, with a copy to all other parties in the case. This will help keep the judge from having one-sided communication (called ex parte) or creating a conflict of interest for the judge by having access to information that may not be appropriate.
You can quickly find when you need to appear in court for criminal, civil and family cases online using Find a Court Date. The site reflects docket entries for criminal, civil and family court records open to the public. Certain records may not be available in accordance with federal and state statutes and rules governing the Unified Judicial System or by court order. For further questions, contact the Clerk of Courts office for the county where your case is pending.
The UJS' Guide and File allows people who represent themselves in court (self-represented litigant) to easily create and fill out the forms necessary to start court proceedings such as a divorce, name change or a protection order for domestic abuse. Guide and File is designed to make starting a legal proceeding easier for self-represented litigants and to improve the accuracy and completeness of forms they file with the Clerk of Courts office. Search for a court form.
A court transcript is an official record of everything said during a legal proceeding. Transcripts are prepared by an official court reporter or court recorder. Most transcripts have to be requested directly from the court reporter attending the court hearing. The Clerk of Courts office can tell you who the reporter is and how to contact that person. Depending on the kind of hearing and whether it was digitally recorded or stenographically reported, the fees for a transcript will vary, as will the time it may take for the transcription.
South Dakota provides electronic searches of court records. Learn more.
The majority of court records can be accessed from public kiosk terminals at each courthouse. To search for older case files that may not be scanned into UJS’ system, contact the Clerk of Courts office for the county in which the case is pending or was held.
There may be a fee for copies, which depends on whether you want a regular copy, a certified or authenticated copy. The fee also depends on the number of pages in the document you are requesting. Generally, all requests for copying and/or searches of records must be accompanied by payment.
Not all documents in court files are available to the public; some have limited access according to South Dakota laws. Juvenile cases are closed (confidential) cases, and the information cannot be released to the public. A juvenile case will not appear in a record search.