Online Resources
South Dakota Legislature: Codified Laws
The South Dakota Legislature provides a full list of all codified laws that are on the South Dakota books.
South Dakota Department of Corrections
The South Dakota Department of Corrections is responsible for the management of the state adult prison system, the state adult parole system and the state juvenile corrections system. This includes juveniles committed to the Department of Corrections and placed in residential out-of-home placement, as well as youth that have completed their correctional placement and are on supervised release known as aftercare.
South Dakota Department of Public Safety
The South Dakota Department of Public Safety includes 11 agencies with the mission to keep South Dakota a safe place in which to live, work, visit, and raise a family. Agencies include: Office of Accident Records, SD Drivers Licensing, Office of Emergency Management, SD State Fire Marshal, SD Highway Patrol, Office of Highway Safety, SD Homeland Security, South Dakota LETS, SD State 9-1-1, SD Weights and Measures, SD State Inspections, and the Victims' Services Program.
South Dakota Unified Judicial System
The South Dakota Unified Judicial System website includes resources for the South Dakota Supreme Court, South Dakota Circuit Courts, resources for attorneys and jurors, and additional resources and information about South Dakota courts and the judicial system.
Visit the official website of the Office of the South Dakota Attorney General. Resources include legal resources, law enforcement resources, victim resources, consumer resources, and information about the office of the Attorney General.
The State Bar of South Dakota has over 3,000 members and 1,800 active in-state members. The State Bar is responsible to the South Dakota Supreme Court for the admission and discipline processes for all South Dakota attorneys. The SBSD also provides continuing legal education and other member services at no cost to our membership. SBSD members are leaders in their communities and participate in education and outreach activities for their state throughout the year - including civics instruction and mock trials in public schools, pro bono legal services through local clinics and Ask-A-Lawyer, and volunteering on a variety of non-profit organization board of directors and committees.
The mission of the American Bar Association is to serve equally their members, their profession and the public by defending liberty and delivering justice as the national representative of the legal profession.
The National Indian Law Library (NILL) of the Native American Rights Fund is a law library devoted to federal Indian and tribal law. NILL maintains a unique and valuable collection of Indian law resources and assists people with their Indian law-related research needs.
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization whose mission is to reduce society’s reliance on incarceration as a solution to social problems.
Justice Research and Statistics Association
The Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the use of nonpartisan research and analysis to inform criminal and juvenile justice decision making. We are comprised of a network of researchers and practitioners throughout government, academia, and the justice community.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) archives and disseminates data on crime and justice for secondary analysis. The archive contains data from over 2,700 curated studies or statistical data series. NACJD is home to several large-scale and well known datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.
US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
The mission of the Bureau of Justice Statistics is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded.
United States Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs is a federal agency that provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Its six program offices support state and local crime-fighting efforts, fund thousands of victim service programs, help communities manage sex offenders, address the needs of youth in the system and children in danger, and provide vital research and data.
United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
ATF is a law enforcement agency in the United States’ Department of Justice that protects our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products. They partner with communities, industries, law enforcement, and public safety agencies to safeguard the public they serve through information sharing, training, research, and use of technology.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets.
United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The priority of the FBI is to help protect you, your children, your communities, and your businesses from the most dangerous threats facing our nation—from international and domestic terrorists to spies on U.S. soil, from cyber villains to corrupt government officials, from mobsters to violent street gangs, from child predators to serial killers.
United States Marshals Service
The Marshals Service provides security to the federal judiciary, and manages the witness security program. It manages and sells seized or forfeited assets of criminals, is responsible for the confinement and transportation of federal prisoners who have not been turned over to the Bureau of Prisons, and is the primary federal agency responsible for fugitive investigations.
United States Bureau of Prisons
It is the mission of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.
United States Federal Judicial Center
The Federal Judicial Center is the research and education agency of the judicial branch of the United States Government. The Center supports the efficient, effective administration of justice and judicial independence. Its status as a separate agency within the judicial branch, its specific missions, and its specialized expertise enable it to pursue and encourage critical and careful examination of ways to improve judicial administration.
United States National Institute of Corrections
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is the only federal agency with a legislative mandate to provide specialized services to corrections from a national perspective. NIC is recognized by other federal agencies for its unique role and quality services. Its leadership is evidenced by the numerous partnerships and interagency agreements targeted to provide correctional services and training.
The U.S. Courts were created under Article III of the Constitution to administer justice fairly and impartially, within the jurisdiction established by the Constitution and Congress. This section will help you learn more about the Judicial Branch and its work.
© 2023 McGovern Library, Dakota Wesleyan University
Email: library@dwu.edu | Phone: (605) 995-2618 | 1200 W. University Ave, Mitchell, SD 57301