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Why is South Dakota making it so hard (and expensive) to give them our money?
To the Citizens of South Dakota and the Department of Revenue: I have just completed the annual ritual of vehicle registration, and I am left with one question: In 2026, why is this process still designed to be as tedious and frustrating as possible? Last year, we were told that new software was coming. Like…
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Why Three Isn’t Enough: The Case for Five-Member Special District Boards
In many of South Dakota’s rural neighborhoods, the most direct form of government we encounter is the special purpose district—whether it’s for roads, water, or sanitation. Under current state laws, these districts often operate with a small board of just three trustees. While a three-person board might seem efficient on paper, it has become a…
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The Case for Repeal: Abolishing South Dakota’s Shadow Governments
In South Dakota, we pride ourselves on local control. However, there is a dark side to “local control” when it manifests as Special Purpose Districts (Road, Sanitary, Irrigation). These districts were designed to give neighbors a way to manage shared infrastructure, but the laws governing them—specifically SDCL 31-12A—have created a constitutional crisis in our rural…
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Breaking the “Closed Loop”: The Case for a Regional Bar Association
In South Dakota, the “Closed Loop” is a phenomenon well-known to those who have tried to challenge local authority. It is a system where the board member, the board’s lawyer, the State’s Attorney, and the Judge all live in the same area, belong to the same organizations, and rely on each other for professional survival….
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My Q&A with a legal sounding board
This is part of a conversation I had, trying to determine my next moves and what I should publish here. I decided to publish a large portion of our conversation. A couple of sidenotes: The clerk took the filing and said she would immediately check with the judge. As she continued the filing process, I/we…