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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When does a South Dakota felon get the right to vote back: at release from prison, at the end of the original court sentence, or at parole completion? Does a suspended imposition of sentence count as a conviction that takes away voting rights? What does a former inmate actually have to do to register again?
Voting rights come back when the full sentence is discharged, not when the inmate walks out the prison gate. A suspended imposition of sentence does not count as a conviction at all (because the court…
When the South Dakota Parole Board counts how many felony convictions an inmate has for purposes of computing parole eligibility, does it look at the date of conviction, the date of offense, or the date of sentence? And how should it count a suspended imposition of sentence that was later revoked because of a new felony?
Date of conviction, in most cases. The AG concluded that SDCL 24-15-5 and 24-15A-32 turned on whether the trial court entered separate judgments under SDCL 23A-27-4 or specifically used 'separate tran…
If a sitting city commissioner pleads no contest to embezzlement and the judge finds her guilty but suspends the imposition of sentence (no formal judgment of guilt entered), is she automatically disqualified from holding city office?
No. A suspended imposition of sentence under SDCL 23A-27-13 is not a 'conviction' for voter-disqualification purposes because the court never entered a judgment of guilt. The commissioner remains a qu…
Under SDCL 23A-27-18.1, a court can require a probationer to serve up to 60 days in the state penitentiary as a condition of probation. Does a probationer serving that 60 days earn the good time credits that SDCL 24-5-1 gives to convicts serving a regular prison sentence?
No. SDCL 24-5-1's good time credits apply to convicts who have been 'sentenced.' Probationers under SDCL 23A-27-18.1 are serving jail or penitentiary time as a condition of probation, not as a sentenc…
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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.