Title 23, LAW ENFORCEMENT

Any pistol that is delivered shall be securely wrapped and shall be unloaded. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SDC 1939, §§ 21.0109, 21.9901; SDCL § 23-7-24 ; SL 1969, ch 89 , § 2; SL 1972, ch 144 , § 3; SL 1978, ch 169 , § 18; SL 1985, ch 190 , § 15;…

Public offenses may be prevented by the intervention of the officers of justice: (1) By requiring security to keep the peace; (2) By forming a police in municipalities, and by requiring their attendance in exposed places; (3) By suppressing riots. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § …

Any person treating any bullet wound, gunshot wound, powder burn, or any other injury arising from or caused by the discharge of any firearm, shall report such treatment to the sheriff of the county in which the wound is treated. Source: SL 1967, ch 111 , § 1; SL 1978, ch 169 , §…

The report shall be made orally as soon as possible by any available means, to the sheriff of the county in which the wound is examined, dressed, or otherwise treated. Source: SL 1967, ch 111 , § 2; SL 1978, ch 169 , § 5.

Any person making a report pursuant to §§ 23-13-10 and 23-13-11 shall have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed, and shall have the same immunity when participating in any judicial proceeding resulting from such report. Sourc…

Any confidential relation privilege set forth in subdivisions 19-19-503(b) and 19-19-504(b) may not be claimed in any judicial proceeding relating to a report concerning an injury from a firearm made pursuant to §§ 23-13-10 and 23-13-11 . Source: SL 1967, ch 111 , § 4; SL 1978, c…

Any person described in § 23-13-10 who knowingly fails to make the reports required by §§ 23-13-10 and 23-13-11 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1967, ch 111 , § 5; SL 1978, ch 169 , § 8.

When the officers of justice are authorized to act in the prevention of public offenses, other persons, who by their command act in their aid, are justified in so doing. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.0102.

It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, police officers, town marshals, constables, and other peace officers and the state's attorneys in each county and the deputies or assistants of any of them to cooperate in the enforcement of all the provisions of chapter 22-25 . Source: SDC 1…

The attorney general shall have authority and it shall be his duty whenever any peace officer or state's attorney of any county has neglected the investigation and enforcement of chapter 22-25 , to make the investigations and complaints and conduct the prosecutions the same as th…

Any public official referred to in §§ 23-13-4 and 23-13-5 who has knowledge sufficient to put an ordinary person on inquiry as to existence of any forms of gambling nuisance prohibited by this code and who fails thereafter diligently to secure and prepare the available evidence a…

A prosecuting attorney may, whenever necessary in his investigations, have the testimony taken by him written out in questions and answers and filed with the papers in the case. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1505; SL 1978, ch 169 , § 3.

The coroner shall hold an inquest upon the dead bodies of such persons only as are supposed to have died by unlawful means. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1001.

The testimony shall be reduced to writing under the coroner's order, and be subscribed by the witnesses. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1009.

If the inquisition find that a crime has been committed on the deceased, and name the person whom the jury believe committed it, the inquest shall not be made public until after the arrest directed in § 23-14-13 . Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1011.

If the person charged is present the coroner may order his arrest by a law enforcement officer or any other person present, and shall then make a warrant requiring the law enforcement officer or other person to take him before a committing magistrate. If the person charged is not…

The warrant of a coroner in such case shall be of equal authority with that of a committing magistrate, and when the person charged is brought before the committing magistrate the same proceedings shall be had as in other cases started by a complaint, and he shall be dealt with i…

The warrant of the coroner shall recite substantially the transactions before him, and the verdict of the jury of inquest leading to the arrest, and such warrant shall be sufficient foundation for the proceedings of the committing magistrate instead of a complaint. Source: SDC 19…

The coroner shall then return to the circuit court the inquisition, the written evidence, and a list of the witnesses who testified to material matters. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1014.

The attorney general shall promulgate forms, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , implementing this chapter. The code commission shall publish such forms as an appendix to this chapter when it publishes the pocket parts or revised volumes of the South Dakota Codified Laws. Such forms shall…

The county coroner shall investigate any human death if a determination of the cause and manner of death is in the public interest. Nothing in the provisions of this section, § 23-14-9.1 , 23-14-19 , 23-14-20 , 34-26-2 , 34-26-5 , or 34-26-14 supersedes the obligation of any coun…

The secretary of health may designate physicians, physician's assistants, or certified nurse practitioners with competency in the field of forensic pathology as special death investigators. Source: SL 1989, ch 204 , § 1; SL 1991, ch 198 , § 2; SL 2017, ch 171 , § 50.

At the request of a county coroner having jurisdiction over a dead body, or at the request of a state's attorney in deaths which may have occurred by unlawful means, the special death investigator may directly assume jurisdiction over any dead body when determination of the cause…

The secretary of health may direct a special death investigator to investigate and certify deaths remaining uncertified for more than three months after the death occurred or was reported. Source: SL 1989, ch 204 , § 3.

The special death investigator shall be compensated only by the agency requesting his services on a direct fee - for - service basis. Source: SL 1989, ch 204 , § 4.

As to any death, the cause and manner of which is in the public interest, the county coroner and law enforcement agency exercising investigative control over such death shall jointly take charge of and exercise complete control over all dead bodies and all effects affixed thereto…

The county coroner shall prepare a medical certificate in conformance with chapter 34-25 for all deaths over which he assumes jurisdiction. Source: SL 1985, ch 191 , § 3.

When the coroner has notice of the dead body of a person supposed to have died by unlawful means, found or being in his county, he shall issue a warrant to the sheriff of his county, requiring him to summon forthwith three electors having the qualifications of jurors of the count…

If any juror fails to appear, the coroner shall cause the proper number to be summoned and returned from the bystanders and immediately proceed to impanel them. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1004.

The coroner may issue subpoenas for witnesses or records, returnable forthwith or at such time and place as the coroner shall direct, and witnesses shall be allowed the same fees as in cases before a magistrate. The coroner has the same authority as a magistrate to enforce the at…

In any such inquisition by a coroner, when he or the jury deem it requisite, he may summon one or more physicians or surgeons to make an examination, and shall allow in such case a reasonable compensation instead of witness fees. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.1007.

If a state's attorney or a sheriff or a coroner has reason to believe that a deceased person may have died in his or her jurisdiction by unlawful means, the state's attorney, sheriff, or coroner may order and direct a physician or surgeon to perform an autopsy. If in the public i…

A physician or surgeon appointed under § 23-14-9.1 , or the coroner if the coroner is a physician or surgeon providing services pursuant to § 23-14-9.1 , shall receive a reasonable fee for services rendered, as approved by the board of county commissioners. The board shall pay th…

Where appearing in this chapter, the term "Governor" includes any person performing the functions of Governor by authority of the law of this state. The term "executive authority" includes the Governor, and any person performing the functions of Governor in a state other than thi…

Every such peace officer or other person empowered to make the arrest, shall have the same authority, in arresting the accused, to command assistance therein, as peace officers have by law in the execution of any criminal process directed to them, with like penalties against thos…

No person arrested on a Governor's warrant shall be delivered to the agent appointed to receive him until he has been first taken to a judge of the circuit court in this state, who shall inform him of the demand made for his surrender and of the crime with which he is charged, an…

If a prisoner taken before a judge pursuant to § 23-24-11 or his counsel shall state that he or they desire to test the legality of his arrest, the judge of such court of record shall fix a reasonable time to be allowed him within which to apply for a writ of habeas corpus. When …

The officer or persons executing the Governor's warrant of arrest, or the agent of the demanding state to whom the prisoner may have been delivered may, when necessary, confine the prisoner in the jail of any county or first or second class municipality through which he may pass;…

The officer or agent of a demanding state to whom a prisoner may have been delivered following the extradition proceedings in another state, or to whom a prisoner may have been delivered after waiving extradition in such other state, and who is passing through this state with suc…

Whenever any person within this state shall be charged on the oath of any credible person before any judge or magistrate of this state with the commission of any crime in any other state and, except in cases arising under § 23-24-7 , with having fled from justice, or with having …

The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer or a private person, without a warrant upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of a state with a crime punishable by death or incarceration for a term one year or greater, but …

If from the examination before the judge or magistrate it appears that the person held is the person charged with having committed the crime alleged and, except in cases arising under § 23-24-7 , that he has fled from justice, the judge or magistrate must, by a warrant reciting t…

Unless the offense with which the prisoner is charged is shown to be an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment under the laws of the state in which it was committed, a judge or magistrate in this state may admit the person arrested to bail by bond, with sufficient suret…

If the accused is not arrested under warrant of the Governor by the expiration of the time specified in the warrant or bond, a judge or magistrate may discharge him or may recommit him for a further period not to exceed sixty days, or a judge or magistrate judge may again take ba…

Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Constitution of the United States controlling, and any and all acts of Congress enacted in pursuance thereof, it is the duty of the Governor of this state to have arrested and delivered up to the executive authority…

If a prisoner is admitted to bail, and fails to appear and surrender himself according to the conditions of his bond, the judge, or magistrate by proper order, shall declare the bond forfeited and order his immediate arrest without warrant if he be within this state. Recovery may…