Public Invited to Participate Free Court Access Training

Carson Walker

South Dakota News Watch

South Dakota journalists, students and members of the public can learn more about the state’s justice system at a free training session on Friday, October 10, online and in person at Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

South Dakota Unified Judicial System judges and staff will explain how the state court system works and how journalists and state residents can access court documents and attend hearings. High school and college students studying journalism, government, political science and law also would benefit from it.

Those leading the session include Second Circuit Judge Jon C. Sogn, Second Circuit court administrator Karl Thoennes, Seventh Circuit Presiding Judge Robert Gusinsky, Pennington County clerk of court Amber Watkins and UJS public information officer Alisa Bousa.

It will be interactive, and participants can text questions to 605-223-1797. Attendees will also get access to the South Dakota Crime Reporting Guide, a resource for covering state and federal courts in South Dakota.

The session will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, October 10, online at sd.net and in person at the SDPB studios at Sioux Falls (601 N. Phillips Ave.) and Rapid City (415 Main St.). RSVP for the in-person sessions, which open at 8 a.m. with coffee and pastries.

The event will be archived at https://sdpb.org/youtube, where previous training sessions can be viewed.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting, the South Dakota Bar Foundation and South Dakota News Watch are sponsoring the training.

Download a handout with event details at file:///Users/review2 /Downloads/Training-handout-2025-10-10.pdf