Governor Dennis Daugaard has appointed Polo native Patricia DeVaney as a judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. DeVaney moves to the bench after 20-plus years as an assistant attorney general. In her time in the A-G’s office she help prosecute the complex and high profile cases of serial killer Robert Leroy Anderson, rapist Ted Klaudt and Ethan Johns, who shot and killed Turner County Deputy Sheriff Chad Michels. Devaney also prosecuted former Highmore Police Chief Ken Huber not only once, but twice, This is Devaney following Huber’s retrial in Huron last year…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/devaney1.mp3|titles=devaney1]The Sixth Judicial Circuit includes most of Central and West Central South Dakota including Hyde County. DeVaney will fill the seat vacated by Judge Lori Wilbur, when Wilbur was tabbed to replace Justice Judith Meierhenry on the South Dakota Supreme Court