Title 21 — JUDICIAL REMEDIES

Any person committed or detained, imprisoned or restrained of his liberty, under any color or pretense whatever, civil or criminal, except as provided herein, may apply to the Supreme or circuit court, or any justice or judge thereof, for a writ of habeas corpus. Source: CCrimP 1…

A writ of habeas corpus is not a remedy available to an applicant who is incarcerated or detained under a lawful order, or judgment and sentence to seek relief from sanctions imposed upon an applicant or administrative decisions made with regard to such application arising out of…

If any officer, sheriff, jailer, keeper, or other person to whom any writ of habeas corpus is directed shall neglect or refuse to make the return, or to bring the body of the applicant according to the command of such writ, he shall be punished as for contempt and shall also forf…

Anyone having a person in his custody or under his restraint, power, or control for whose relief a writ of habeas corpus is issued who, with intent to avoid the effect of such writ, shall transfer such person to the custody, or place him or her under the control of another, or sh…

Upon the return of the writ of habeas corpus, a day shall be set for the hearing of the cause of imprisonment or detainer, not exceeding thirty days thereafter, unless for good cause additional or less time is allowed. Source: CCrimP 1877, § 673; CL 1887, § 7841; RCCrimP 1903, § …

The applicant for a writ of habeas corpus may deny any of the material facts set forth in the return or may allege any fact to show, either that the imprisonment or detention is unlawful or that he is then entitled to his discharge, which allegations or denials shall be made on o…

The court or judge shall proceed in a summary way to settle the facts by hearing the evidence and arguments, as well of all persons interested civilly, if any there be, as of the applicant and the person who holds him in custody, and shall dispose of the applicant as the case may…

The application shall be heard before any judge of the court in which the conviction took place. A record of the proceedings shall be made and kept. There may be no proceedings on an application by a judge who imposed sentence on the applicant or who otherwise denied him relief c…

No court or judge, on the return of a writ of habeas corpus, shall in any other manner inquire into the legality or justice of a judgment or decree of a court legally constituted. Source: CCrimP 1877, § 673; CL 1887, § 7841; RCCrimP 1903, § 773; RC 1919, § 4980; SDC 1939 & Supp 1…

If it appears on the return of a writ of habeas corpus that the applicant is in custody by virtue of process from any court legally constituted, he can be discharged only for one or more of the following causes: (1) When the court has exceeded the limit of its jurisdiction, eithe…

Repealed by SL 2012, ch 118 , § 6.

In all cases where the imprisonment is in a criminal, or supposed criminal matter, if it shall appear to the court or judge that there is sufficient legal cause for the commitment of the applicant, although such commitment may have been informally made or without due authority, o…

Sections 21-27-19 to 21-27-24 , inclusive, shall control the admission to bail where the application for the writ of habeas corpus is by or in behalf of a person in custody under judicial process. Source: Supreme Court Rule 623, 1939; SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 37.5509.

A final judgment or order entered under this chapter may not be reviewed by the Supreme Court of this state on appeal unless the circuit judge who renders the judgment or a justice of the Supreme Court issues a certificate of probable cause that an appealable issue exists. A moti…

When the writ of habeas corpus is granted, the court or judge granting the writ may, within its discretion, admit the prisoner to bail, pending further order of the court. Source: Supreme Court Rule 623, 1939; SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 37.5509 (1).

Any person committed for a criminal offense and not brought to trial, as provided by the provisions of this code, is entitled to have the delay inquired into upon a writ of habeas corpus, and the court or judge, upon the return of such writ, shall have power to remand or discharg…

The prisoner shall not be admitted to bail pending application for the writ of habeas corpus, or pending appellate review of an order refusing the writ, except by order of the Supreme Court or one of the judges thereof. Source: Supreme Court Rule 623, 1939; SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, …

Pending appellate review of an order discharging a writ of habeas corpus after it has been issued, the prisoner may be remanded to the custody from which he was taken by the writ, or detained in other appropriate custody, or admitted to bail, as to the court or judge rendering th…

Pending appellate review of an order discharging a prisoner on habeas corpus, he shall be admitted to bail without surety. Source: Supreme Court Rule 623, 1939; SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 37.5509 (4).

Where the writ of habeas corpus is refused, or where the writ is discharged after having been issued, and the prisoner has been denied bail, he may be admitted to bail by the Supreme Court or one of the judges thereof, pending appellate review. Source: Supreme Court Rule 623, 193…

When the prisoner is admitted to bail, he shall furnish a bond in such sum as the court directs, conditioned that he shall render himself amenable to all orders and process of the court or judge and that he will forthwith comply with any order directing his return to custody. Exc…

Where a writ of habeas corpus is granted in proceedings involving the custody of a person not held under judicial process, the court shall have discretion to make a proper order concerning the temporary custody of such person pending final determination of the proceeding or pendi…

When any person shall be remanded in any habeas corpus proceeding, it shall be the duty of the court or judge remanding him to make out and deliver to the sheriff or other person to whose custody he shall be remanded an order in writing stating the cause or causes of remanding hi…

It shall not be lawful for any court or judge, on a second writ of habeas corpus, to discharge any person, if he is clearly and specifically charged in the warrant of commitment with a criminal offense; but the court or judge shall, on the return of such second writ, have power o…

No person who has been discharged by order of a court or judge upon a writ of habeas corpus shall be again imprisoned, restrained, or kept in custody for the same cause, unless he be afterward prosecuted for the same offense; nor unless by the legal order or process of the court …

Any person who, knowing that another has been discharged by order of a competent judge or tribunal on a writ of habeas corpus, shall, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, arrest or detain him again for the same cause which was shown on the return of such writ, shall forfei…

An application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be in writing and signed by the applicant or some person on his behalf, setting forth the facts concerning his detention and in whose custody he is detained, and shall be accompanied by a copy of the warrant of commitment or other …

Proceedings under this chapter cannot be maintained while an appeal from the applicant's conviction and sentence is pending or during the time within which such appeal may be perfected. Source: SL 1983, ch 169 , § 4; SL 2012, ch 118 , § 1.

Repealed by SL 2012, ch 118 , § 2.

A two-year statute of limitation applies to all applications for relief under this chapter. This limitation period shall run from the latest of: (1) The date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such revie…

If a person has been committed, detained, imprisoned, or restrained of liberty, under any color or pretense whatever, civil or criminal, and if upon application made in good faith to the court or judge thereof, having jurisdiction, for a writ of habeas corpus, it is satisfactoril…

The court or judge to whom the application for a writ of habeas corpus is made, shall forthwith award the writ, unless it shall appear from the application itself or from any document annexed thereto, that the applicant can neither be discharged nor admitted to bail, nor in any o…

A claim presented in a second or subsequent habeas corpus application under this chapter that was presented in a prior application under this chapter or otherwise to the courts of this state by the same applicant shall be dismissed. Before a second or subsequent application for a…

Source: CCrimP 1877, §§ 681, 688; CL 1887, §§ 7849, 7856; RCCrimP 1903, §§ 781, 788; RC 1919, §§ 4985, 4990; SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 37.5507; SL 2024, ch 76 , § 1.

The Supreme and circuit courts and the judges thereof shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus for the purpose of bringing any person imprisoned in any prison before any court or magistrate, to testify in any criminal action or proceeding in any county of the state, and r…

The writ of habeas corpus, if issued by the court, shall be under the seal of the court, or if by a judge, under his hand; and shall be directed to the person in whose custody the applicant is detained. To the end that no officer, sheriff, jailer, keeper, or other person to whom …

21-27-9.1 Server of writ--Eligibility--Powers--Liability--Manner of service--Persons served. 21-27-9.2 Production of applicant--Payment of expenses--Applicant in state hospital or correctional facility. 21-27-9.3 Return to writ--Time for filing--Content. 21-27-10 Contempt and for…

The writ of habeas corpus may be served by the sheriff, coroner, or any person appointed for that purpose by the court or judge by whom the writ is entered; if served by a person not an officer, he has the same power, and is liable to the same penalty for nonperformance of his du…

The officer or person upon whom the writ of habeas corpus is served shall produce the body of the applicant before the court at the hearing of the cause of imprisonment or detainer. If the applicant is in the custody of a civil officer, the court or judge who granted the writ sha…

The state's attorney of the county in which the writ of habeas corpus was issued shall file a return to the writ within fifteen days unless for good cause additional or less time, is granted. The return shall state the true cause or authority for the detention. Source: SL 1983, c…