Staff of the South Dakota Office of Indigent Legal Services are pictured outside their office Sept. 11, 2025, in Sioux Falls. From left are Deputy Appellate Public Defender Derek Friese, Deputy Appellate Public Defender Beau Blouin, Paralegal Eileen Henze, State Public Defender Chris Miles and Deputy Appellate Public Defender Matthew Mirabella. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
South Dakota’s first state public defender and his staff of four have taken on 43 cases since taking their first this winter.
Lawmakers created and funded the Office of Indigent Legal Services in 2024 to address the ballooning cost of lawyers for people who have a constitutional right to one but can’t afford it…