N Y Times Online Front Page Features South Dakota's Need for Rural Attorneys

South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Gilbertson and a newly passed South Dakota law, which creates monetary incentives for lawyers who are willing to practice in a rural area, are featured on the front page of the New York Times online edition today (April 9, 2013). According to the article, other states including Arizona, Texas, and Georgia, face the same problems as South Dakota regarding insufficient attorney representation in rural areas . Most of the attorneys in these states are located in populated areas, leaving the rural areas without lawyers.

The new law offers graduates an incentive to practice in rural areas of South Dakota. The governor recently signed HB 1096 into law. The bill creates a four year pilot program aimed at recruiting attorneys to rural counties with populations of less than 10,000.

The incentive pay offered to the attorney would offset 90% of the student's resident tuition at the University of South Dakota School of Law. The graduate would need to work in a rural area that meets the established criteria for 5 years to collect all the incentive money. The incentive pay is covered by the State Bar, the State of South Dakota and the county that the attorney serves.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Candice Spurlin)