Local Judge to Testify Before the United States Sentencing Commission

Judge Gregory D. Smith (Photo: Submitted)

Pleasant View Municipal Judge, Gregory D. Smith, is scheduled to testify before the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) on March 9, 2026 at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. regarding proposed modifications to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (USSG). The USSG sets punishment policies for all federal criminal cases. Among the issues to be addressed by the USSC in March are human trafficking, career offenders, and resolving a conflict between 11 of the 13 federal appellate courts over how to sentence federal drug cases.

Smith, Pleasant View's municipal judge since 1997, also sits on multiple Native American Tribal Supreme Courts and practices in the area of criminal defense and family law in Clarksville. He is a member of the Tribal Issues Advisory Group (TIAG), one of five standing committees to the United States Sentencing Commission. TIAG consists of nine members that currently includes a U.S. District Court Judge, the U.S. Attorney for Montana, the Dean of the University of South Dakota Law School, federal public defenders from Arizona and Minnesota, administrative representatives, and two Native American Tribal Supreme Court Justices.

This hearing will be live-streamed nationally on www.ussc.gov.