Title 22, CRIMES

In the various cases in which the sending of a letter is made criminal by the statutes of this state, the offense is deemed complete from the time when such letter is deposited in any post office or any other place or delivered to any person with intent that it be forwarded. Sour…

No act or omission may be deemed criminal or punishable except as prescribed or authorized by this title or by some other statute of this state. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0103; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 362.

If the possession of an object is made an offense, no law enforcement officer may be convicted of that offense if that law enforcement officer came into and retained possession of that object in the course of performing official duties. Source: SL 1976, ch 158 , § 1-5 ; SL 2005, …

The omission to specify or affirm in this title any liability to any damages, penalty, forfeiture, or other remedy imposed by law and allowed to be recovered or enforced in any civil action or proceeding for any act or omission declared punishable in this title does not affect an…

The omission to specify or affirm in this title any ground of forfeiture of a public office or other trust or special authority conferred by law to impeach, remove, depose, or suspend any public officer or other person holding any trust, appointment, or other special authority co…

No act or omission declared punishable by any statute of this state is less so because it is also punishable under the laws of another state, government, or country, unless the contrary is expressly declared by statute. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0108; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 368.

This title does not affect any power conferred by law upon any court martial or other military authority or officer to impose or inflict punishment upon offenders. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0112.

This title does not affect any power conferred by law upon any public body, tribunal, or officer to impose or inflict punishment for a contempt. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0112.

No criminal act is less punishable as a crime because it is also declared to be punishable as contempt. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0109; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 369.

Any person is capable of committing a crime, except those included in the following classes: (1) Any child under the age of ten years; (2) Any child of the age of ten years , but under the age of fourteen years, in the absence of proof that at the time of the committing the act o…

No person who is under the influence of voluntarily consumed or injected alcohol or controlled substances at the time of committing the act charged is for that reason insane. Source: SL 1983, ch 174 , § 4; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 371.

Any person who, with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a crime, aids, abets, or advises another person in planning or committing the crime, is legally accountable, as a principal to the crime. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0203; SL 1976, ch 158 , § 3-2 ; SL 2005, ch …

The distinction between an accessory before the fact and a principal, and between principals in the first and second degree, in cases of felony, is abrogated. Any person connected with the commission of a felony, whether that person directly commits the act constituting the offen…

A person is an accessory to a crime, if, with intent to hinder, delay, or prevent the discovery, detection, apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or punishment of another for the commission of a felony, that person renders assistance to the other person. There are no accessories…

An accessory to the commission of a felony may be prosecuted, tried, and punished, even if the principal is not prosecuted or tried, or even if the principal was acquitted. Source: SDC 1939 & Supp 1960, § 34.0505; SDCL, § 23-10-5; SL 1978, ch 185 , § 3; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 375.

If two or more persons conspire, either to commit any offense against the State of South Dakota, or to defraud the State of South Dakota, or any county, township, school district, or municipal corporation in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of the parties do any act…

Any person who, while out of the state, causes, aids, advises, or encourages another person to injure any person or property in this state by means of any act or neglect which is a crime in this state, is liable to punishment under the laws of this state. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0…

Unless specific provision is made by law, any person who attempts to commit a crime and, in the attempt, does any act toward the commission of the crime, but fails or is prevented or intercepted in the perpetration of that crime, is punishable for the attempt at a maximum sentenc…

The provisions of § 22-4-1 do not protect a person who, in attempting unsuccessfully to commit a crime, commits another and different crime, whether greater or less in guilt, from suffering the punishment prescribed by law for the crime committed. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0402; SL …

Notwithstanding § 22-4-1 , attempted first degree murder, as defined by § 22-16-4 , if committed against a law enforcement officer while the officer was engaged in the performance of the officer's duties, is a Class 1 felony. Source: SL 2023, ch 67 , § 2.

Any person who, with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a crime, commands, hires, requests, or solicits another person to engage in specific conduct which would constitute the commission of such offense or an attempt to commit such offense, is guilty of crimina…

It is not a defense to prosecution for criminal solicitation that the person solicited neither committed or attempted to commit the offense solicited nor was capable of committing or attempting to commit the offense solicited. Source: SL 2005, ch 120 , § 439.

No person may be convicted of criminal solicitation upon the uncorroborated testimony of the person allegedly solicited, and there must be proof of circumstances corroborating both the solicitation and the defendant's intent. Source: SL 2005, ch 120 , § 440.

No person may be convicted of criminal solicitation if, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of the defendant's criminal intent, the defendant: (1) Notified the person solicited of his or her renunciation; and (2) Gave timely and adequate warning …

No person may be convicted of a crime based upon conduct in which that person engaged because of the use or threatened use of unlawful force upon himself, herself, or another person, which force or threatened use of force a reasonable person in that situation would have been lawf…

Insanity is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for any criminal offense. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense. The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence. Source: SL 1985, ch 192 , § 11.

No act committed by a person while in a state of voluntary intoxication may be deemed less criminal by reason of such condition. But if the actual existence of any particular purpose, motive, or intent is a necessary element to constitute any particular species or degree of crime…

A morbid propensity to commit prohibited acts existing in the mind of a person who is not shown to have been incapable of knowing the wrongfulness of such acts forms no defense to a prosecution therefor. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0505; repealed SL 1976, ch 158 , § 5-2 ; re - enacted…

Except as otherwise provided by law, felonies are divided into the following nine classes which are distinguished from each other by the following maximum penalties which are authorized upon conviction: (1) Class A felony: death or life imprisonment in a state correctional facili…

If a person is convicted of a Class 5 or Class 6 felony, the court may sentence the person so convicted to imprisonment in the county jail of the county where such person was convicted, for a term of not more than one year. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.0604; SL 1963, ch 55 ; SDCL, § 23…

If an adult has a previous conviction for a felony sex crime as defined by § 22-24B-1 , any subsequent felony conviction for a sex crime as defined by subdivisions 22-24B-1(1) to (15), inclusive, and (19) shall result in a minimum sentence of imprisonment equal to the maximum ter…

The penalty of life imprisonment may not be imposed upon any defendant for any offense committed when the defendant was less than eighteen years of age. Source: SL 2016, ch 121 , § 2.

Nothing in SL 2005, chapter 120 may be construed to permit the imposition of any lesser or greater penalty that may be provided for in SL 2005, chapter 120 as punishment for any offense which was committed prior in time to July 1, 2006 regardless of when the sentence for such off…

The sentencing court shall sentence an offender convicted of a Class 5 or Class 6 felony, except those convicted under §§ 22-11A-2.1 , 22-14-15 , 22-18-1 , 22-18-1.05 , 22-18-26 , 22-18-29 , 22-19A-1 , 22-19A-2 , 22-19A-3 , 22-19A-7 , 22-19A-16 , 22-22A-2 , 22-22A-4 , 22-22-24.3 …

Misdemeanors are divided into two classes which are distinguished from each other by the following maximum penalties which are authorized upon conviction: (1) Class 1 misdemeanor: one year imprisonment in a county jail or two thousand dollars fine, or both; (2) Class 2 misdemeano…

A court may sentence any person convicted of a crime committed while that person was a prisoner as defined by § 22-11A-1 , to a term of not more than twice the maximum term allowed by the statute for the commission of the same crime by a person not so confined. However, the provi…

No enhanced penalty may be imposed for any second, third, or subsequent violation, except for an offense pursuant to the provisions of chapter 32-23 , unless the defendant was convicted of or plead guilty or nolo contendere to the prior offense previous in time to committing the …

If a defendant is convicted of two or more offenses, regardless of when the offenses were committed or when the judgment or sentence is entered, the judgment or sentence may be that the imprisonment on any of the offenses or convictions may run concurrently or consecutively at th…

Actions for violations of petty offenses are civil proceedings in which the state is the plaintiff. Such actions are governed by chapter 23-1A . Source: SL 1976, ch 158 , § 6-3 ; SL 1977, ch 193 , § 26; SL 2005, ch 120 , § 433.

Notwithstanding § 22-6-1 or 22-6-2 , if there is an insurer, self insurance, reciprocal insurance, or an insurance pool available to compensate the victim by means of a civil liability determination, the court in imposing sentence on a defendant who has been found guilty of a mis…

Any person who has suffered physical injury as a result of an assault or a crime of violence as defined in subdivision 22-1-2(9) may petition the court for a protection order. The petition shall be accompanied by an affidavit made under oath stating the specific facts and circums…

Whenever any jailer, warden, or prison, probation, parole, or law enforcement officer has knowledge that any person charged with a felony has been previously convicted within the meaning of this chapter, that person shall provide that information to the state's attorney. Source: …

Any allegation that a defendant is an habitual criminal shall be filed as a separate information at the time of, or before, arraignment. However, the court may, upon motion, permit the separate information to be filed after the arraignment, but no less than thirty days before the…

The defendant shall be apprised of the contents of the habitual offender information and shall receive a copy of it. The habitual offender information may not be divulged to the jury in any manner unless and until the defendant has been convicted of the principal offense. The def…

If a defendant has been convicted of one or two prior felonies under the laws of this state or any other state or the United States, in addition to the principal felony, the sentence for the principal felony shall be enhanced by changing the class of the principal felony to the n…

If a defendant has been convicted of three or more felonies in addition to the principal felony and one or more of the prior felony convictions was for a crime of violence as defined in subdivision 22-1-2(9), the sentence for the principal felony shall be enhanced to the sentence…