Hannah Haksgaard

Hannah Haksgaard (nee Alsgaard) was born in Kentucky, but grew up outside of Yankton, South Dakota, where she received her K-12 education. She returned to Kentucky for college before attending law school in California. Following law school, Professor Haksgaard clerked for the Honorable Roberto Lange of the District of South Dakota and the Honorable Kermit Bye of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Professor Haksgaard joined the USD Knudson Law faculty in 2016.

At the Knudson School of Law, Professor Haksgaard teaches and writes about Family Law, Property Law, and rural legal issues. She received the Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2023.

Professor Haksgaard currently teaches Property, Family Law, Reproduction & the Law, and a Law Review Writing Seminar. She previously taught Employment Discrimination and Modern Real Estate Transactions. At the law school Professor Haksgaard also advises the South Dakota Law Review, the Family Law and Children's Advocacy, and Women in Law.

In addition to her law school teaching and advising, Professor Haksgaard is affiliated faculty with three other departments on campus. She serves on student committees for the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Department, the Department of History, and the Department of Music.

Professor Haksgaard writes about the rural lawyer shortage and family law issues in rural areas. Her most recent project is the book The Rural Lawyer: How to Incentivize Rural Law Practice and Help Small Communities Thrive (Cambridge University Press, 2025).

Citations listed below are presented in a standardized, modified format for display purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the preferred style and conventions of the faculty member or discipline.

Haksgaard, Hannah. The Rural Lawyer: How To Incentivize Rural Law Practice and Help Small Communities Thrive . Cambridge University Press, 2025. (DOI: 10.1017/9781009542821)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Kammer, Sean, and Letellier, Travis. Five Prairie Reflections on Reviving Rural America, 127 W. Va. L. Rev. 759 (2025). West Virginia Law Review, 2025. (DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5345718)
Haksgaard, Hannah. My Past is My Present: Teaching In and Writing About a Home Community in Positionality in Rural Access to Justice Scholarship (eds. Michele Statz & Dan Newman, forthcoming 2025 with Hart Publishing) .
Drapeaux, Bryce, and Haksgaard, Hannah. Indian Country Lawyers: A South Dakota Survey. 69 South Dakota Law Review 437, 2024. (DOI: 10.70657/sdlr.v69.i3.437)
Haksgaard, Hannah. Conceptualizing Rural Access to Justice as Supply Chains Primed for Transformation, in Access to Justice in Rural Communities: Global Perspectives 141 (eds. Daniel Newman & Faith Gordon) (with Amanda Kool) (2023).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Making South Dakota History: An Introduction to the Special Impeachment Issue, 68 S.D. L. Rev. 159 (2023) (with Tyler Moore & Gabrielle Unruh).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Legal Supports and Services for Rural Victims in Rural Victims of Crime: Conceptualisations, Realities, and Responses 195 (eds. Rachel Hale & Alistair Harkness) (2023). In Rural Victims of Crime, 195-206. Routledge, 2022. (DOI: 10.4324/9781003132691-26)
Haksgaard, Hannah. Book Review, 72(4) Montana: The Magazine of Western History 85 (2022) (reviewing Birthing The West: Mothers and Midwives in the Rockies and Plains by Jennifer Hill (2022)) (invited) .
Haksgaard, Hannah. Health Education Leaves the Hills: Frontier Nursing University’s Move from Appalachia, 124 W. Va. L. Rev. 687 (2022) (for the Health in the Hills Symposium) .
Haksgaard, Hannah. Including Unmarried Women in the Homestead Act of 1862, 67 Wayne L. Rev 253 (2022).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Student Response Systems in the Family Law Classroom, 60 Fam. Ct. Rev. 722 (2022).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Commentary on Tate v. Water Works & Sewer Bd. of City of Oxford, in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Property Opinions 198 (Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod & Elena Maria Marty-Nelson eds., 2022). In Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Property Opinions, 198-224. Cambridge University Press, 2021. (DOI: 10.1017/9781108890922.015)
Haksgaard, Hannah. Court-Appointment Compensation and Rural Access to Justice, 14 U. St. Thomas J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 88 (2020) (for the Inequality of Wealth, Race, and Class, Equality of Opportunity Symposium) .
Haksgaard, Hannah. The Homesteading Rights of Deserted Wives: A History, 99 Neb. L. Rev. 419 (2020).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Traveling for Abortion Services and the Rural Women “We Must Not Forget,” 65 S.D. L. Rev. 1 (2020) (reviewing Abortion Across Borders: Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services by Christabell Sethna & Gayle Davis (2019)).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Blending Surnames at Marriage, 30 Stan. L. & Pol'y Rev. 307 (2019).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Rural Practice as Public Interest Work, 71 Maine L. Rev. 209 (2019) (for the Ensuring Equal Access to Justice in Maine's Rural Communities Symposium) (invited).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Defining “Home” through Homestead Laws, 33 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 169 (2018).
Haksgaard, Hannah. Legal Deserts: A Multi-State Perspective on Rural Access to Justice, 13 Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev. 15 (2018) (with Lisa Pruitt, Danielle M. Conway, Michele Statz, Amanda Kool, and Lauren Sudeall) (invited) .
Haksgaard, Hannah. Rural Women and Developments in the Undue Burden Analysis: The Effect of Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, 65 Drake L. Rev. 663 (2017).
Alsgaard, Hannah. Rural Incentive Programs for Legal and Medical Professionals: A Comparative Analysis, 59 S.D. L. Rev. 585 (2014).
Alsgaard, Hannah. Book Review, 27 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 142 (2012) (reviewing Deborah L. Rhode, The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law (2010)).
Alsgaard, Hannah. Decoupling Marriage & Procreation: A Feminist Argument for Same-Sex Marriage, 27 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 307 (2012).
Alsgaard, Hannah. Rural Inheritance: Gender Disparities in Farm Transmission, 88 N.D. L. Rev. 347 (2012).
Alsgaard, Hannah. Introduction to Symposium Issue: Uncovered: The Policing of Sex Work, 26 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 198 (2011).

Haksgaard, Hannah, Including Unmarried Women in the Homestead Act of 1862. Presented at the The Agricultural Heritage Museum and Ness School of Economics Lunch & Learn, Brookings, SD. (October 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist discussing legal implications of Dobbs. Presented at the SD After Roe, Vermillion, SD. (September 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist discussing rural women and abortion access. Presented at the The Implication of Dobbs (September 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist discussing beginning a faculty career. Presented at the What’s That First Year Like? at New Faculty Orientation, Vermillion, SD. (August 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist for the session on Finding and Retaining Qualified Counsel.. Presented at the 2022 ABA Public Defense Summit: Management and Oversight of Assigned Counsel and Contract Systems (April 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist for Brackeen and the Potential Implications for Indian Country. . Presented at the Building on Our Institutional Strengths (March 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Frontier Nursing Service, Midwifery Care, and Leaving Rural Kentucky Behind. Presented at the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Research Conference, Vermillion, SD. (March 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Frontier Nursing and Rural Midwives. Presented at the Health in the Hills: Understanding the Impact of Health Care Law in Rural Communities, Morgantown, WV. (February 2022)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Including Unmarried Women in the Homestead Act of 1862. Presented at the Dakota Conference, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD. (August 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist. Presented at the What’s That First Year Like? at New Faculty Orientation, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. (August 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Legal Supports and Services for Rural Victims. Presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting (July 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, South Dakota Code Changes and Women’s Rights. Presented at the Family Law Scholars and Teachers Conference (June 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, South Dakota Code Changes and Women’s Rights. Presented at the Summer Feminist Legal Theory Writers' Workshop (June 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Including Unmarried Women in the Homestead Act of 1862. Presented at the Association of Law, Property, and Society Annual Conference (May 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist (discussing the use of Kahoot! in the Family Law classroom for the panel Dynamic Pedagogy in the Family and Juvenile Law Classroom: Experiential and In-Class Exercises). Presented at the Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting (January 2021)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Women in Homestead Legislation: A Statutory History. Presented at the Chicagoland Junior Scholars Work in Progress Conference (October 2020)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Supreme Court Precedent, Reproductive Health, and the Future of the Supreme Court. Presented at the JABSOM Medical Students for Choice Meeting (October 2020)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Women in Homestead Legislation: A Statutory History. Presented at the Red River Women’s Studies Conference (October 2020)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Court-Appointed Lawyers and Rural Access to Justice. Presented at the Inequality of Wealth, Race, and Class, Equality of Opportunity Symposium, Minneapolis, MN. (March 27, 2020)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist (on rural abortion access). Presented at the Sex, Gender, and Civil Rights in South Dakota, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. (September 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist. Presented at the What’s That First Year Like? at New Faculty Orientation, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. (August 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Considering Rural Practice as Public Interest Work and Other National Strategies to Combat the Rural Lawyer Shortage. Presented at the Fifth Annual Celebration of the Rural Attorney Recruitment Program, Pierre, SD. (May 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist (on state response to the rural lawyer shortage). Presented at the Ensuring Equal Access to Justice in Maine's Rural Communities Symposium, Waterville, Maine. (April 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Rural Practice as Public Interest Work. Presented at the Ensuring Equal Access to Justice in Maine's Rural Communities Symposium, Waterville, Maine. (April 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Blending Surnames at Marriage. Presented at the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Research Conference, Vermillion, SD. (March 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Homesteading Rights of Deserted Wives: A History. Presented at the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Research Conference, Vermillion, SD. (March 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Female Homesteaders: A Legal History. Presented at the Rural Livelihoods Conference, UC Davis School of Law, Davis, CA. (February 2019)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Blending Surnames at Marriage. Presented at the Chicagoland Junior Scholars Work in Progress Conference, Loyola University School of Law, Chicago, IL. (October 2018)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Homesteading Rights of Deserted Wives: A History. Presented at the Law Faculty Exchange, Drake Law School, Des Moines, IA. (September 2018)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Homesteading Rights of Deserted Wives: A History. Presented at the Family Law Scholars and Teachers Conference, Cardozo Law, New York, NY. (June 2018)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Defining "Home" through Homesteading Laws. Presented at the Home & Homecoming Symposium, Berkeley Law, Berkeley, CA. (April 2018)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Panelist (Title VII legal expert) . Presented at the A Conversation about Sexual Harassment, Vermillion, SD. (October 2017)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Homesteading Rights of Deserted Wives: A History. Presented at the Red River Women's Studies Conference, Fargo, ND. (October 2017)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Rural Women and Developments in the Undue Burden Analysis: The Effect of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Presented at the Red River Women's Studies Conference, Fargo, ND. (October 2017)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Rural Women and Developments in the Undue Burden Analysis: The Effect of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH. (July 2017)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Rural Women and Developments in the Undue Burden Analysis: The Effect of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Presented at the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Research Conference, Vermillion, SD. (March 2017)
Haksgaard, Hannah, Rural Women and Developments in the Undue Burden Analysis: The Effect of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Presented at the Constitution Day, Vermillion, SD. (September 2016)
Alsgaard, Hannah, Rural Incentive Programs for Legal and Medical Professionals: A Comparative Analysis . Presented at the Project Rural Practice Symposium, Vermillion, SD. (March 2014)
Alsgaard, Hannah, Rural Inheritance: Gender Disparities in Farm Transmission. Presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New York, NY. (August 2013)

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