Victoria Wicks
Former SDPB Freelance Reporter/ProducerRapid City freelancer Victoria L. Wicks has been producing news for SDPB since August 2007. She Retired from this position in March 2023.
She has been a newspaper reporter, and she spent about 14 years advocating for crime victims in Rapid City and Aberdeen.
Victoria is also a creative writer; several of her short stories have been published, one of them in an anthology titled Fishing for Chickens: Short Stories about Rural Youth.
In addition, Victoria is a visual artist, creating pottery, watercolors, oil and acrylic paintings, and photographs. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of South Dakota.
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The House Judiciary Committee has voted down a bill requiring law enforcement training to include issues of concern to tribes. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Shawn Bordeaux, also brought a similar bill last year. He sought recruit training on tribal sovereignty and cultural customs, as well as a ban on chokeholds. Bill opponents say law enforcement training already includes all that. -
Almost two years ago, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Dakota Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing certain legal documents to be witnessed remotely. Now the State Bar is asking the legislature to make that order permanent. -
In a close vote, the South Dakota Senate has passed a bill that proposes to make hazing a crime. It now heads to the House side. The prime sponsor says hazing has been an ongoing problem in the United States, with multiple deaths attributed to initiations into school groups and fraternities. -
Sex offenders listed on the state registry could be facing a felony instead of a misdemeanor for sexual contact if the South Dakota legislature approves Senate Bill 77A. -
Parties in the Mount Rushmore fireworks appeal have filed additional information at the request of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge appellate panel heard oral arguments in January. The state is fighting the Department of Interior and National Park Service over a 2021 denial of a fireworks permit. At issue is whether the state has a valid legal claim and an injury that can be redressed. -
At the request of the Chief Justice, the House Judiciary Committee has voted to amend an unenforceable law. Children removed from their homes because of alleged abuse or neglect are entitled to a special advocate in addition to their court-appointed attorney. However, a court spokesman says those advocacy services are not available in all areas of the state, and not every abuse and neglect case requires them. -
After approving an amendment not acceptable to the prime sponsor, the House Judiciary Committee has passed a bill that denies a lenient sentencing option to accused rapists. The original bill included all definitions of rape, but the amended version exempts defendants who commit statutory rape or rape of a victim too intoxicated to give consent. -
A bill proposing legal sanctions for state employees who assist enforcement of federal laws restricting guns and ammo is on hold until Valentine’s Day. The bill was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 26. After hearing opponent testimony from state and local law enforcement officials, the committee delayed the bill until Feb. 14, to give the sponsors time to fix unintended consequences. -
A woman who sued Rapid City after being paralyzed in a 2015 bicycle accident has lost her case before the South Dakota Supreme Court. Four justices held that a Seventh Circuit judge properly granted summary judgment to the city. But one justice dissented, saying a jury should have decided if the city destroyed evidence and chose to ignore a dangerous road condition. -
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Wednesday, Jan. 12, in South Dakota ’s ongoing battle to shoot off fireworks at Mount Rushmore for Independence Day. The state says the National Park Service wrongly denied a 2021 permit after a successful event the year before. But the feds say every year brings its own set of circumstances to be considered, and so each permit needs to be studied.
