South Dakota governor signs bill to help bring lawyers to rural areas that lack them

South Dakota is giving graduates of the University of South Dakota School of Law a reason to practice in rural areas. On Thursday Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed House Bill 1096, which provides "a post-graduation payback of 90 percent of law-school tuition for lawyers who move into under-served rural counties (10,000 population or less). It would cover 16 lawyers," writes Bob Mercer of the Rapid City Journal.

South Dakota Chief Justice David Gilbertson says the signing "makes South Dakota the first state in the nation to have legislation designed specifically to assist recruiting attorneys into rural parts of the state," reports the Dakota Radio Group.