South Dakota Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in South Dakota, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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If an employee of the county State's Attorney's Office runs for a seat on the local school board, does that automatically create a conflict of interest that disqualifies them?
No. SDCL 13-7-3 only disqualifies elected officers or holders of an 'office' whose duties are incompatible with school board service. A Public Information Officer in the State's Attorney's Office is a…
If a sitting South Dakota county commissioner is appointed to a vacant seat in the State Legislature, can the person hold both offices at the same time until the county commissioner term ends?
No. The offices of state representative and county commissioner are incompatible. The Legislature has plenary constitutional authority over counties under S.D. Const. art. IX, § 1, including the power…
May a Crooks city alderman simultaneously serve on the city common council and on the municipal planning and zoning commission? The common council hears appeals from planning and zoning decisions, so the alderman would in effect be voting on appeals from his own commission decisions.
No. SDCL 9-14-16 prohibits an alderman from holding any other office under the municipality. Membership on the planning and zoning commission is a 'public office' under the *Griggs v. Harding County* …
Can a small-town mayor in South Dakota write traffic tickets and patrol the streets if the city no longer has a police officer? Does the statute giving the mayor 'all powers conferred by law upon sheriffs to suppress disorder and keep the peace' make the mayor a law enforcement officer?
No. The AG concluded that SDCL 9-29-16 gave the mayor only the sheriff's specific power to call others to aid in keeping the peace, not the full status of a law enforcement officer. To issue a traffic…
Can the same South Dakota county official serve as County Director of Equalization and as a school board member at the same time?
No. The County Director of Equalization is the official responsible for determining property valuations for tax purposes. A school board is a governing body that depends on property tax revenue to ope…
In South Dakota, can the same person serve as both a county commissioner and a state legislator at the same time? And can a state legislator also sit on the South Dakota Veterans Commission?
No to both, but for different reasons. The AG concluded that simultaneous county commissioner and state legislator service created a conflict of interest, because the legislator would have authority t…
A South Dakota law professor on the Board of Pardons and Paroles by Supreme Court appointment is moving to a full-time law-school faculty role with full salary. Can he also accept the Board's $1,800 statutory compensation and reimbursement for board-meeting expenses?
There is no statutory compensation to accept. SDCL 23-58-2 (which would have provided the $1,800 board salary) was repealed by SDCL 4-7-10.5 in 1971. The Code Commission's adopted schedule allowed Boa…
I am a sitting state legislator and I have been offered the job of director of my county's welfare department. Can I hold both positions at the same time, or does one of South Dakota's constitutional provisions prohibit it?
Yes, the positions are compatible. A county welfare director is an employee of the county (not a state officer), so Article III, Section 3 of the South Dakota Constitution (which restricts state legis…
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Attorney general opinions in South Dakota are written by the South Dakota Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.