What Types of Projects or Programs does the SDBF Support?
Direct Legal Services
The SDBF provides support for the provision of direct legal services by legal services organizations and attorneys to indigent and low-income communities in an effort to ensure access to justice for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
Volunteer Attorney Pro Bono Programs
The SDBF provides support for pro bono programs and activities that engage volunteer attorneys to provide free and reduced-fee legal assistance to persons of limited means, to increase access to justice and demonstrate the value of our profession to society.
Public/Community Service
The SDBF provides support for community service projects that create opportunities for lawyers, paralegals, law students and other members of the profession to strengthen and improve communities throughout the state, in measurable ways.
Civics/Justice Education
The SDBF provides support for civic education programs that place an emphasis on the law, the justice system, and the legal profession to educate the public and to build confidence in the rule of law and our justice system.
Well-Being and Professionalism for Attorneys
The SDBF provides support for programs and activities that promote attorney well-being, competence, or professionalism to cultivate a culture of service, invest in training of lawyer leaders, and use innovative approaches to bring South Dakota lawyers together to work alongside one another for the common good.
2023-2024 Fiscal Year
Bar Foundation Grants Awarded
This fiscal year the Bar Foundation is supporting -
· Access to Justice, the State Bar of South Dakota’s Pro Bono Program - $72,000
· Young Lawyers Division Conference – SD Bar Member Tamara Nash was elected Chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division for the 2023-2024 bar year. The Bar Foundation awarded a grant to support programming and events at the YLD spring conference in Omaha from May 15-19, 2024- $10,000
· Ask-A-Lawyer Program - $21,000
· South Dakota Public Broadcasting - Statehouse Coverage - $18,000
· WORKS Project - Divorce form assistance and mediation aid for income eligible participants (offers free assistance to self-represented individuals and couples statewide, who are filing for divorce using UJS Divorce Forms) - $12,780
· The South Dakota Guardianship Program - provides guardianship and conservatorship services to adults in SD with disabilities who have no family members willing or able to care for them - $10,000
· South Dakota Teen Court - $5,000
The Bar Foundation also helps support the Rural Attorney Recruitment Program.
Apply for the 2024-2025 funding cycle.
The funding cycle for this application is for the term of August 1, 2024, through July 30, 2025. Applicants should apply for grant funding needed for use within this grant term. Any grant funds that are awarded and not used within the grant term revert to the South Dakota Bar Foundation. Grant recipients are expected to submit a final report on how their grant was utilized within two months after the last expenditure is made, or, if the grant runs for more than a calendar year, a report by March 15 of the succeeding year and on the 15th of each second month thereafter. Grants will be awarded at the Foundation’s June, 2024 meeting and applicants will be notified of awards by July 1, 2024.