In a criminal case, the state, through a prosecutor, initiates the suit, while in a civil case the victim brings the suit. Persons convicted of a crime may be incarcerated, fined, or both. Criminal defense attorneys represent clients who have been accused of committing a crime, and defend their rights at each stage of a misdemeanor or felony case -- from an arrest to an appeal after conviction. Criminal defense attorneys may be hired privately or provided by the government (called "public defenders").
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south. It anchors the fastest growing metro area in the Midwest, with a total increase of 22% since 2000. As of the 2000 census, Sioux Falls had a population of 123,975 and a metropolitan area population of 187,093. However, a 2008 Census Bureau estimate shows Sioux Falls to have grown to a population of 154,997, with a metropolitan population of 232,930. It is also the primary city of the Sioux Falls-Sioux City Designated Market Area (DMA), a larger media market region that covers parts of four states and has a population of 1,043,450. Chartered in 1856 on the banks of the Big Sioux River, the city is situated on the prairie of the Great Plains at the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 29. Sioux Falls is a regional center of urban and rural interaction.