Gov. Rounds Appoints Fifth Circuit Judge

PIERRE – Gov. Mike Rounds has appointed Magistrate Judge Scott P. Myren of Pierre to the Fifth Circuit Court Judgeship.

“Mr. Myren has distinguished himself as a very good Magistrate Judge and will do a good job for the citizens of the Fifth Judicial Circuit,” said Gov. Rounds on the appointment.  

Judge Myren, a native of Mobridge, is a 1985 graduate of the University of South Dakota and a 1988 graduate of Rutgers University Law School in Camden, NJ.   

After law school, Myren entered private practice with the law firm of Calkins, Kramer, Grimshaw and Harring in Denver, Colo.  In April of 1990 he was hired by the South Dakota Supreme Court as a permanent staff attorney.  In 1994, he was appointed by Gov. Miller as an administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings.  After that office was dissolved in 1996, he was assigned to the South Dakota Department of Labor to serve in the same capacity, presiding over hundreds of cases involving property tax equalization, personnel grievances, drivers licensing, unemployment insurance and tax audits.  

In April of 1999, Judge Myren was appointed to serve as the magistrate judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit.  In addition to his judicial responsibilities, Myren serves as an adjunct professor for the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University through the Capital University Center.  

Myren has been active in numerous bar committees and associations, including the South Dakota State Bar Association and the South Dakota Judges Association.  Past associations include the Colorado Bar Association, Denver Bar Association, Douglas County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  He serves on the South Dakota Bar Association’s committee on administrative law. 

The Fifth Circuit serves Brown, Campbell, Day, Edmonds, Faulk, Marshall, McPherson, Roberts, Spink, and Walworth Counties.  

Myren replaces Judge Jack Von Wald who was selected to assume the duties as Presiding Circuit Judge on the retirement of Eugene Dobberpuhl of Aberdeen. 

Myren will reside on his family’s farm in rural Campbell County near Selby and assume his new duties the end of February.