United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

Appeals toEighth CircuitEstablishedNovember 2, 1889Judges3Chief JudgeRoberto LangeOfficers of the courtU.S. AttorneyDennis R. Holmes (acting)U.S. MarshalDaniel C. Mostellerwww.sdd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota (in case citations, D.S.D.) is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction for issues pertaining to federal law or diversity for the state of South Dakota. The court is based in Sioux Falls with other courthouses in Rapid City, Pierre, and Aberdeen. The district was created in 1889, when the Dakota Territory was divided into North and South Dakota.

Appeals from the District of South Dakota are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of February 26, 2021^[update] the acting United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota is Dennis R. Holmes.

Current judges

As of October 1, 2023^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
16	Chief Judge	Roberto Lange	Pierre	1963	2009–present	2020–present	—	Obama
14	District Judge	Karen Schreier	Sioux Falls	1956	1999–present	2006–2013	—	Clinton
17	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	Senior Judge	Lawrence L. Piersol	Sioux Falls	1940	1993–2009	1999–2005	2009–present	Clinton
13	Senior Judge	Charles B. Kornmann	Aberdeen	1937	1995–2008	—	2008–present	Clinton

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
5	Rapid City	Jeffrey L. Viken	Senior status	October 1, 2021	Camela C. Theeler	February 8, 2024
4	Sioux Falls	Karen Schreier		TBD[1]	Eric Schulte

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Alonzo J. Edgerton	SD	1827–1896	1889–1896[Note 1]	—	—	B. Harrison	death
2	John Emmett Carland	SD	1853–1922	1896–1911[Note 2]	—	—	Cleveland	elevation to 8th Cir.
3	James Douglas Elliott	SD	1859–1933	1911–1933	—	—	Taft	death
4	Alfred Lee Wyman	SD	1874–1953	1929–1953	—	—	Hoover	death
5	George T. Mickelson	SD	1903–1965	1953–1965[Note 3]	1954–1965	—	Eisenhower	death
6	Axel J. Beck	SD	1894–1981	1958–1969	1965–1966	1969–1981	Eisenhower	death
7	Fred Joseph Nichol	SD	1912–1996	1965–1980	1966–1980	1980–1996	L. Johnson	death
8	Andrew Wendell Bogue	SD	1919–2009	1970–1985	1980–1985	1985–2009	Nixon	death
9	Donald James Porter	SD	1921–2003	1979–1992	1985–1991	1992–2003	Carter	death
10	John Bailey Jones	SD	1927–2023	1981–1995	1991–1994	1995–2023	Reagan	death
11	Richard Battey	SD	1929–2017	1985–1999	1994–1998	1999–2017	Reagan	death
15	Jeffrey L. Viken	SD	1952–present	2009–2021	2013–2019	2021–2023	Obama	retirement

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

See also

• Courts of South Dakota
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in South Dakota
• United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota

References

External links

• Official website
• United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota Official Website

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