Title 7 — COUNTIES

Terms used in this title, unless the context otherwise plainly requires, are defined as follows: (1) "Institutions and agencies," when used in connection with a county, all subdivisions and departments of a county which are under the supervision or control of the board of county …

At any meeting held pursuant to § 7-21-9 and during the consideration of the provisional budget by the board, the board may eliminate, amend, correct, change, or alter any of the purposes, objects, items, schedules, appropriations, amounts, estimates, or matters contained in the …

After all amendments, corrections, changes, alterations, eliminations, insertions, and additions have been made in and to said provisional budget, and when the same is approved and adopted as the annual budget for the next fiscal year, the aggregate of all amounts appropriated th…

The board of county commissioners shall, before October first in each fiscal year, before finally determining or fixing any of the tax levies for the following fiscal year and after all amendments, corrections, changes, alterations, eliminations, insertions, and additions have be…

The resolution together with the budget as approved and adopted shall be signed by the members of the board, attested by the county auditor and filed in the office of the county auditor, and such budget, after approval and adoption, shall be known as the "annual budget for the fi…

The adoption of such annual budget shall impose a trust upon the separate amounts therein set forth and contained and appropriated for the specific uses, purposes, objects, and items therein named. Source: SL 1927, ch 79 , § 9; SDC 1939, § 12.2007; SL 1951, ch 29 , § 3.

The county auditor shall submit a copy of the annual budget as adopted, to the secretary of revenue together with a report of the annual levies, before the taxes are extended on the tax lists of the county. Source: SDC 1939, § 12.2007 as added by SL 1951, ch 29 , § 3; SL 1974, ch…

It shall be unlawful for the officers of any county, unless specially and expressly authorized by law, to contract any debt or incur any pecuniary liability, unless both the principal and annual interest thereof, in addition to other necessary disbursements, can be paid by the le…

The provisions of § 7-21-16 or any other provision of law notwithstanding, any county may enter into a lease - purchase agreement for a term of years, not exceeding ten, for the purchase or lease by the county of real or personal property. However, if a lease - purchase agreement…

The provisions of § 7-21-16 or any other provision of law notwithstanding, a county may borrow money from any source willing to lend the money by issuing a promissory note subject to the limitations set in §§ 7-21-16.3 to 7-21-16.6 , inclusive. Notes issued pursuant to this secti…

The money borrowed pursuant to § 7-21-16.2 may not exceed the sum of ninety-five percent of the amount of uncollected taxes levied by the county for the current fiscal year plus other receivables of the fund, including state or federal grant moneys, that have been earned by the c…

If any registered warrants or promissory notes are outstanding against the fund for which the money is to be borrowed, the borrowing limit specified in § 7-21-16.3 is reduced by the amount of the outstanding warrants or promissory notes. Source: SL 2012, ch 53 , § 3.

The rate of interest for a promissory note authorized by § 7-21-16.2 shall be stated on the note. The note shall be signed by the chair of the board of county commissioners and by the county auditor. Source: SL 2012, ch 53 , § 4.

If a note authorized by §§ 7-21-16.2 to 7-21-16.5 , inclusive, has been issued and not paid in full within the term provided in § 7-21-16.2 , no cash receipts may be expended for any purpose except the retirement of principal and interest of notes outstanding against that fund, u…

Each contract made in violation of the provisions of § 7-21-16 is null and void in regard to any obligation thereby purported to be imposed on the county. However, any officer who made or authorized the contract is individually liable for its performance. Each officer present whe…

Before October first in each fiscal year and after the annual budget for the following fiscal year has been approved and adopted, the board shall compute and determine: (1) The total amount of all appropriations contained in the budget for the next fiscal year, and payable out of…

The total unassigned fund balance of the general fund may not exceed forty percent of the total amount of all general fund appropriations contained in the budget for the next fiscal year. Source: SL 1981, ch 56 , § 2; SL 2004, ch 70 , § 1; SL 2016, ch 46 , § 1.

Before October first in each fiscal year and after the annual budget for the following fiscal year has been approved and adopted, the board of county commissioners shall, for each particular fund out of which appropriations are payable, levy a tax that is sufficient to raise the …

It shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners of each and every county to prepare and adopt an annual budget of all of the contemplated expenditures and revenues of the county and all of its institutions and agencies for each fiscal year, save and except so much of su…

The board of county commissioners must not at any time or in any manner whatsoever make or provide for any appropriation or appropriations or for any expenditure or expenditures for any purpose, object, or item whatever, other than in and by the annual budget for the fiscal year …

Any funds made available after the final budget is adopted by a county from state and federal grants for expenditure by the county shall be paid into the county treasury and may be expended without specific provision in the annual budget of the county. In this case the commission…

In the event of an epidemic or disease or act of God, disaster, catastrophe, or accident, which results in damage to or destruction of any of the works, roads, buildings, or property of the county or any of its institutions or agencies, and the results of which have not been anti…

In the event of the passage and enactment of any law during a fiscal year and after the adoption of the annual budget for a following fiscal year, imposing some new obligation or duty upon a county, or in the event of the failure to provide by the final budget a sufficient revenu…

All of the provisions of §§ 7-21-12 to 7-21-15 , inclusive, with reference to the adoption of the resolution, signing of the resolution and budget, minute entries, and filing, shall apply to any supplemental budget made and adopted under the provisions of § 7-21-21 or §

After the approval and adoption of the annual budget as provided in § 7-21-12 , and immediately after the approval and adoption of each supplemental budget, as provided in § 7-21-21 or § 7-21-22 , the county auditor shall notify in writing before the beginning of the next fiscal …

Unless specially and expressly authorized by law, it shall be unlawful for the board of county commissioners or any member thereof, or for any officer of any county or any employee thereof in charge of any institution or agency of a county, to contract any indebtedness or incur a…

All orders, authorizations, allowances, contracts, payments, or agreements or liabilities to pay, made or attempted to be made in violation of this chapter, shall be void and shall never be the foundation of a claim against any county or against any institution or agency thereof,…

All officers, boards, and members of boards, employees, and all other persons authorizing, contracting, or incurring, or attempting to authorize, contract, or incur any indebtedness or liability for or in behalf of any county or any institution or agency thereof in violation of t…

All officers, boards, and members of boards, and employees of a county or any institution or agency thereof, authorizing, contracting, or incurring, or attempting to authorize, contract, or incur any indebtedness or liability for or in behalf of such county or institution thereof…

In all cases where appropriations of money have heretofore or may hereafter be made for periods longer than one year, it shall be unlawful for the person or persons whose duty it is to expend such appropriation to audit, expend, or contract to pay more money in any one year than …

Not later than the first day in June in each year, the county auditor must make and present to the board for its use at the meeting thereof to be held in July for consideration of the annual budget for the following fiscal year a report showing: (1) The amount of all budget appro…

All officers, boards, and members of boards, and employees of every county and of all of its agencies and institutions and all other persons and corporations, shall be charged with notice of the financial condition of the county, and of all of its institutions and agencies, the l…

Any reimbursements received for unanticipated expenditures charged to any budget activity may be considered a supplemental budget and added to the budget activity from which it was paid. The supplement shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the board of county com…

No expenditures shall be charged to the line item authorized for by § 7-21-6.1 , but such appropriated amount may be transferred, by resolution of the board, to any other appropriation in which insufficient amounts were provided or for items for which no appropriation was provide…

Whenever it shall be necessary to compute the indebtedness of a county or of any of its institutions or agencies, for bonding or other indebtedness purposes, delinquent taxes and taxes levied for the purposes set forth in the budget of the county shall not be considered an asset,…

Whenever moneys shall have been actually provided for any funds of the county by a levy of taxes and such moneys shall not have been actually collected and covered into the county treasury but concerning the receipt of which moneys there can be no question, the board of county co…

The board of county commissioners must, at its regular meeting in January of each year, ascertain and determine the total amount of taxes levied by such county on all real estate payable during the fiscal year just ended and which remained delinquent and unpaid at the close of su…

The board of county commissioners must also, at the same time, ascertain and determine the total amount of all warrants issued against each fund payable out of the appropriations for such fiscal year and which remain outstanding and unpaid at the close of such fiscal year because…

For the purpose of providing funds for the payment of outstanding warrants and claims and liabilities, the board of county commissioners may, whenever the total amount of delinquent taxes for the preceding year on real estate payable into any fund shall be more than five percent …

The certificates of indebtedness issued pursuant to § 7-21-37 shall be in substantially the same form as warrants drawn against the general fund of the county, except that they shall be known as certificates of indebtedness and each shall recite in the body thereof that it is dra…

Certificates of indebtedness issued pursuant to § 7-21-37 may be sold by the board at either public or private sale, but shall not be sold at less than their par value, or may be exchanged for such outstanding warrants, dollar for dollar with accrued interest thereon, but no brok…

All reports made by the county auditor under § 7-21-3 , after being examined by the board, shall be filed in the office of the county auditor and shall be subject to inspection and examination by all interested persons during all office hours of such county auditor. Source: SL 19…

The moneys so borrowed for each of such funds shall be deposited to the credit thereof and shall be used for the purpose of paying and redeeming the outstanding warrants drawn against such funds, and the claims and liabilities created, during such fiscal year, together with the i…

Such resolution must create a fund to be known as the "Delinquent tax fund for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 20____," and shall provide that all delinquent taxes levied during such fiscal year for the funds for which such money has been borrowed, together with all penalti…

The treasurer shall, whenever there shall be any money in any delinquent tax fund sufficient to pay one or more of the certificates of indebtedness issued against such fund with accrued interest, call the same in for payment and redemption in the same manner that warrants against…

If, after all certificates of indebtedness drawn against any delinquent tax fund shall have been fully paid, there remains any balance in such fund, such balance shall be apportioned to the several funds for which money was borrowed in proportion to the total amount of taxes levi…

All appropriations for the expenditure of public moneys contained in the annual and supplemental budgets for such fiscal year, shall cease to be in effect at the expiration of the fiscal year for which the same were made, except as provided in § 7-21-45 , and any unused balance a…

Any unused balance in the contingency budget shall revert at the close of the year and shall not be accumulated. Source: SL 1974, ch 66 , § 2.

The board of county commissioners may by resolution at its first meeting in January or within ten days thereafter encumber that portion of unexpended appropriations from the prior year for which legal obligations were incurred but were not paid. The resolution shall state the app…

Warrants issued for claims allowed against budget appropriations for the previous fiscal year which have been filed before the board's first meeting in January, shall be paid out of the fund on which drawn on the presentation to the treasurer of the county, and in case of insuffi…