Title 15, CIVIL PROCEDURE

Except where an appeal is denied by law, there shall be a right of appeal to the circuit court from any final order or judgment of the magistrate court. Appeals from such final orders and judgments must be taken within ten days after the attestation and filing of the order or jud…

The notice of appeal shall specify the party or parties taking the appeal, shall designate the order or judgment, or part thereof, appealed from, and shall be signed by the appellant or his attorney. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 2 (a).

The appellant, or his counsel, shall service the notice of appeal on counsel of record of each party other than appellant, or, if the party is not represented by counsel, on the party at his last known address. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 2 (b).

Before the expiration of the time of appeal, the appellant shall file the notice of appeal with the clerk of the circuit court to which the appeal is to be taken. The clerk shall not accept for filing a notice of appeal unless accompanied by a proof of service of a conformed copy…

Upon compliance with § 15-38-25 the clerk of the circuit court shall immediately transmit a certified copy of the notice of appeal to the magistrate whose order or judgment has been appealed. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 2 (d).

Before the expiration of the time for appeal, the appellant shall file a filing fee of ten dollars and a bond for costs on appeal or equivalent security to be approved by the court in a sum not less than one hundred dollars in any case, nor less than the amount of the judgment an…

The bond described in § 15-38-27 shall be deemed waived if appellant shall file with the clerk the written consent of each appellee, and the filing fee and bond may be waived by the filing of an affidavit of indigency. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 3 (b).

Failure of an appellant to take any step other than timely service and filing of a notice of appeal does not affect the validity of the appeal, but is grounds for such action as the circuit court deems appropriate, which may include dismissal of the appeal. Source: Supreme Court …

Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the clerk of court shall assemble and number the pages of all pleadings, documents, papers, and exhibits filed in the action and forward them to the clerk of the circuit court within ten days of the filing of the notice of appeal. Source: Sup…

If anything material to either party is omitted from the record or is misstated therein, the parties by stipulation, or the magistrate or circuit court, on motion by a party or on its own initiative, may direct the record be corrected. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 4 (b).

Except in small claims proceedings, a verbatim record of all proceedings and evidence at trials before a magistrate shall be maintained either by electrical devices or by stenographic means, as the magistrate may direct, but if any party to the action requests stenographic report…

When an appeal is taken, the appellant shall petition the circuit court for an order that a transcript of the verbatim record of the proceedings be prepared. The transcript shall be filed within thirty days of the service of the order upon the court reporter. The transcript may b…

The cost of the preparation of the transcript shall be paid by the appellant upon the filing of the same. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 5 (c).

The transcript shall be prepared in the form and manner prescribed for transcripts in appeals to the Supreme Court. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 5 (d).

The briefs shall be prepared in the form and manner prescribed for appeals to the Supreme Court unless otherwise set by rule of the circuit court. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 6 (a).

Unless the times are shortened by the circuit court, the appellant shall serve and file his brief within thirty days after the filing of the transcript or within thirty days after notice of appeal where there is no transcript. The appellee shall serve and file his brief within th…

When an appeal is taken to the circuit court from a judgment rendered in a magistrate court with a magistrate judge presiding, the circuit may review all matters appearing in the record relevant to the question of whether the judgment appealed from is erroneous; the circuit court…

When an appeal is taken to the circuit court from a judgment rendered in a magistrate court with a magistrate presiding who is not law trained, the circuit court shall review the appeal as in § 15-38-38 ; provided, that the circuit court in its discretion, may receive further evi…

When an appeal is taken to the circuit court from a judgment rendered in a magistrate court and no verbatim record of the proceedings is available, the circuit court shall direct that the case be tried de novo. Source: Supreme Court Rule 78-4, Rule 7 (c).

The Supreme Court may amend and repeal uniform rules of practice applicable to circuit and magistrate courts in this state, providing for a simple, informal, and inexpensive procedure, hereinafter called the procedure, for the determination according to the rules of substantive l…

No claim pursuant to this chapter may exceed twelve thousand dollars, not including allowable costs or attorney fees. Source: SL 2011, ch 106 , § 1.

The procedure shall not be exclusive but shall be alternative to the formal procedure for actions begun by summons. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4101; SDCL, § 15-39-2; Supreme Court Rule 81-4.

The term, attorney, in this chapter means an attorney-at-law, who is an active member of the State Bar of the State of South Dakota, in good standing, one of a number of partners or joint plaintiffs, acting for all, an officer, manager, or local manager of a corporation acting fo…

The plaintiff initiating the action or the plaintiff's attorney shall complete the information on the small claims form available in the clerk of courts office, and provide a written and signed statement of the cause of action to the clerk who shall docket the action. The stateme…

The plaintiff or attorney shall also provide in writing to the clerk the plaintiff's and the defendant's place of residence, usual place of business, and the place of employment, or such thereof as the clerk may deem necessary, including the street and number, if any; and the cle…

The clerk shall serve in a supervisory role to determine whether or not plaintiff has met the criteria of sufficiency and clarity. If the clerk deems the statement of a cause of action insufficient, the court at the request of the plaintiff or the clerk shall decide whether such …

The word "clerk" in this chapter shall include a deputy clerk. If a claim is filed with a magistrate, the duties to be performed by the clerk in this chapter shall be performed by the magistrate. Source: SDC 1939, § 33.4106; Supreme Court Rule adopted May 1, 1942; SDCL, § 15-39-6…

The procedure shall include the beginning of actions with an entry fee of four dollars for actions up to one hundred dollars, ten dollars for actions up to one thousand dollars, and twenty dollars for actions over one thousand dollars, but without summons, and without requirement…

The procedure shall include notice by registered or certified mail, return receipt, in addition to all other forms of legal service, and shall further include provisions for early hearing of actions thus begun. The provisions may include the modification of any or all of existing…

The clerk shall fix the time set for the hearing or answer which shall not be less than five days from the beginning of the action. The time fixed should be sufficient to enable registered or certified mail, return receipt, by regular course to reach defendant and to enable defen…

If the notice by certified or registered mail is returned undelivered, or if in any other way it appears that notice has not reached the defendant, the clerk shall issue, at the request of the plaintiff and at the expense of the plaintiff, such other or further notice as the cour…

A plaintiff beginning an action under the procedure shall be deemed to have waived a trial by jury and the right of appeal unless the action is removed, for formal hearing, to the regular civil docket of either circuit or magistrate court as hereinafter provided, in which case th…

No party may appeal any decision entered under this procedure. In lieu thereof, defendant may, five days prior to the date upon which the defendant is notified to appear or answer, file in the court in which the action is pending, a petition to remove the action to the regular ci…

Upon removal, the clerk of courts shall forthwith transmit such original papers or attested copies thereof and the circuit or magistrate court may try the action as transmitted or may require pleading as in an action by summons, but the action shall be marked for trial on the lis…

In any action brought by or against two or more persons in which separate judgments are authorized by law, the party seeking removal may specify in the petition of jury trial the parties as to whom such trial is claimed, in which case the cause shall be removed as to such parties…

Upon removal of a cause to the circuit or magistrate court the original docket entries, or in case of removal by some of several defendants, an attested copy thereof shall be transmitted to the clerk of the circuit or magistrate court. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4119; SDC…

A defendant, unless the court shall otherwise order, shall be defaulted unless he shall, personally or by attorney, comply with the requirements of the notice served upon him. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4111; SDCL, § 15-39-27; Supreme Court Rule 81-4.

The clerk shall cause the substance of the defense to be entered in the docket, and the docket entry shall be deemed the answer. The answer shall state fully and specifically in writing, but in concise and untechnical form, what parts of the claim are contested, and the grounds o…

The defendant within the time for answer may, in the manner provided in § 15-39-48 , claim any setoff or counterclaim within the jurisdiction of the court in civil cases. Upon the making of such claim by the defendant, the clerk shall give a notice to the plaintiff, at the expens…

The court may at any time allow any claim or answer to be amended. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4113; SDCL, § 15-39-30; Supreme Court Rule 81-4.

If the plaintiff does not appear at any time set for hearing, the court may dismiss the claim for want of prosecution or enter a finding on the merits for the defendant or make such other disposition as may be proper. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4114; SDCL, § 15-39-32; Sup…

The venue is limited to the county of the residence of the defendant, if the defendant is a natural person, or the county in which the cause of action arose. If the defendant is a corporation, limited liability company, or a partnership, the proceedings shall be commenced in any …

Subpoenas for witnesses, if requested, will be issued by the clerk and served according to the specifications of § 15-6-45(c). Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4109; SDCL, § 15-39-34; Supreme Court Rule 81-4; SL 1988, ch 428 (Supreme Court Rule 87-9).

Witnesses shall be sworn; but the court shall conduct the hearing in such order and form and with such methods of proof as it deems best suited to discover the facts and to determine the justice of the case. Interrogatories shall not be filed nor depositions taken, except by leav…

After the determination of the action, the judge or magistrate shall affix his signature to the docket card. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 33.4114; SDCL, § 15-39-36; Supreme Court Rule 81-4.

The actual cash disbursements of the prevailing party for entry fee, mailing fees, witness fees, and officers' fees shall be allowed as costs. No other costs shall be allowed either party, except by special order of the court. The court shall have power in its discretion to award…