Chief Justice David Gilbertson announced Wednesday the appointment of the Honorable Tim Tucker of Madison as Presiding Judge for the Third Judicial Circuit.  Judge Tucker’s appointment will follow the retirement of current Presiding Judge David Gienapp of Madison.  Judge Tucker is a 1982 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law.  He was appointed as a circuit court judge in 1987.
The Presiding Judges are administrative heads of their respective circuits.
The Third Judicial Circuit is served by 6 circuit court judges, 1 law-trained magistrate court judge, and clerk magistrates in each county in the circuit. The 14 counties in east-central South Dakota within the circuit include: Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Codington, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lake, Miner, Moody, and Sanborn.