PIERRE, S.D. (WNAX) – Current South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Steven Jensen has been selected to serve as the next Chief Justice.

He will follow long time Chief Justice David Gilbertson, who is retiring.

Gilbertson will serve until January. Jensen says they wanted a longer transition time.

Jensen says he has watched and learned from Gilbertson in his time on the high court.

The Chief Justice is also the head of the South Dakota court system with almost six hundred employees and a budget of nearly sixty million dollars.

Jensen, originally from Wakonda, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017.