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South Dakota Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2025)
| South Dakota Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Kern vacancy |
| Date: December 8, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Robert Gusinsky |
| Date: November 4, 2025 |
Governor Larry Rhoden (R) appointed Robert Gusinsky to the South Dakota Supreme Court. Gusinsky replaces Justice Janine M. Kern, who retired on December 8, 2025. Gusinsky is Governor Rhoden's (R) first nominee to the five-member supreme court.
In South Dakota, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
If a judge retires before the end of his or her term, a judicial nominating commission recommends candidates to the governor, and the governor selects a successor from that list. The new appointee serves for at least three years before running in a yes-no retention election.[1]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the South Dakota Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Robert Gusinsky
On November 4, 2025, Governor Larry Rhoden (R) appointed Circuit Court Judge Robert Gusinsky to the South Dakota Supreme Court.[2]
Education
Gusinsky received his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1990 from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and his J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1996.[2]
Career
- 2013-2025: Judge, South Dakota Seventh Judicial Circuit
- 2007-2013: Assistant United States attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office
- 1996-2007: Attorney in private practice
- 1990-1993: Commercial airline pilot and flight instructor[2]
Awards and associations
- Member, Board of Directors of the South Dakota Lions Eye and Tissue Bank
- Member, Blue Knights, a law enforcement motorcycle association[2]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in South Dakota
In South Dakota, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: South Dakota Supreme Court
Justices
Following Kern's retirement, the South Dakota Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Mark Salter | Appointed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) in 2018 | |
| ■ Patricia DeVaney | Appointed by Gov. Kristi Noem (R) in 2019 | |
| ■ Steven Jensen | Appointed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) in 2017 | |
| ■ Scott P. Myren | Appointed by Gov. Kristi Noem (R) in 2020 |
About the court
Founded in 1861, the South Dakota Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Steven Jensen. In 2018, the court decided 375 cases.
As of November 2025, all five judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.
The South Dakota Supreme Court meets in Pierre, South Dakota.
In South Dakota, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
About Justice Kern
- See also: Janine M. Kern
Kern received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University in 1982 and her J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1985.[3][4] Before her appointment to the South Dakota Supreme Court, Kern served as a judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit.[5] She was appointed to the Seventh Judicial Circuit in November 1996 and was last re-elected to the court on November 4, 2014. Kern was then appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court later that month.[4][6] Prior to her judicial career, Kern worked for the South Dakota Attorney General's Office.[4] She was named Woman Attorney of the Year in 2002 by the State Bar of South Dakota.
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgeneral - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 South Dakota Unified Judicial System, "Governor Rhoden Appoints Judge Robert Gusinsky to the South Dakota Supreme Court," November 4, 2025
- ↑ Martindale.com, "Janine M. Kern," accessed October 16, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Rapid City Journal, "Kern named top attorney," June 20, 2002
- ↑ South Dakota Unified Judicial System, "Seventh Circuit judges and staff," archived February 1, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidate2014
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Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of South Dakota • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of South Dakota
State courts:
South Dakota Supreme Court • South Dakota Circuit Courts • South Dakota Magistrate Courts
State resources:
Courts in South Dakota • South Dakota judicial elections • Judicial selection in South Dakota
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