Eastern Arkansas vs. South Dakota

What This Eastern Arkansas vs. South Dakota Comparison Reveals

In FY2024, the Eastern Arkansas District (8th Circuit) handled 8,035 federal sentencings with an average imposed term of 26.0 months, while the South Dakota District (8th Circuit) handled 575 cases at an average of 91.0 months. That is a 65.0-month gap — the South District sentences longer on average. Case volume alone tells part of the story: Eastern processed roughly 14× more defendants than South, which affects guideline compliance patterns and the mix of offenses each court sees.

Guideline compliance diverges as well. In Eastern Arkansas, 47% of cases were sentenced within the guideline range, 8% above, and N/A% below, with Booker variances in N/A% of dispositions. In South Dakota, the corresponding figures were 7% within, 2% above, N/A% below, and N/A% Booker variances. Guilty-plea rates ran at 23% vs. 89%, and prison-sentence rates at 89% vs. 95% respectively — metrics that capture both charging practice and judicial discretion across the two courts.

Set against the nationwide benchmark for the same offense mix, Eastern Arkansas ran a disparity of -5.0% and South Dakota ran -23.7%. That comparison adjusts for the offense mix each district actually handles, so it isolates court-level patterns from pure caseload composition. Readers should still treat these as aggregate descriptive statistics — individual cases turn on criminal history, specific guideline adjustments, cooperation agreements, and statutory mandatory minimums that the district averages cannot resolve. This data is presented for research and educational purposes only and is not legal advice.