South Dakota Rules of Procedure in Circuit Courts
98 rules across 11 parts · 97 active
South Dakota’s Rules of Procedure in Circuit Courts are codified as “SDCL” (Chapter 15-6), promulgated by the South Dakota Supreme Court under its constitutional rulemaking authority and since amended by both the Court and the Legislature.
Plain-English guides Browse South Dakota guides →Part I. Scope of Chapter — One Form of Action
Cited as SDCL § · 2 active rules
Part II. Commencement of Action — Service of Process, Pleadings, Motions and Orders
Cited as SDCL § · 4 active rules
Part III. Pleadings and Motions
Cited as SDCL § · 10 active rules
- 15-6-7 Pleadings Allowed — Form of Motions
- 15-6-8 General Rules of Pleading
- 15-6-9 Pleading Special Matters
- 15-6-10 Form of Pleadings
- 15-6-11 Signing of Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers — Representations to Court — Sanctions
- 15-6-12 Defenses and Objections
- 15-6-13 Counterclaim and Cross-Claim
- 15-6-14 Third-Party Practice
- 15-6-15 Amended and Supplemental Pleadings
- 15-6-16 Pretrial Procedure — Formulating Issues
Part IV. Parties
Cited as SDCL § · 12 active rules
- 15-6-17 Parties Plaintiff and Defendant — Capacity
- 15-6-18 Joinder of Claims and Remedies
- 15-6-19 Joinder of Persons Needed for Just Adjudication
- 15-6-20 Permissive Joinder of Parties
- 15-6-21 Misjoinder and Nonjoinder of Parties
- 15-6-22 Interpleader
- 15-6-23 Class Actions
- 15-6-23.1 Derivative Actions by Unincorporated Associations
- 15-6-23.2 Actions Relating to Unincorporated Associations
- 15-6-24 Intervention
- 15-6-25 Substitution of Parties
- 15-6-25.1 Naming of Dismissed or Dropped Parties
Part V. Discovery
Cited as SDCL § · 18 active rules
- 15-6-26 Discovery Pending Action
- 15-6-27 Depositions Before Action or Pending Appeal
- 15-6-28 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.1 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.2 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.3 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.4 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.5 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-28.6 Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
- 15-6-29 Stipulations Regarding the Taking of Depositions
- 15-6-30 Depositions upon Oral Examinations
- 15-6-31 Depositions of Witnesses upon Written Interrogatories
- 15-6-32 Use of Depositions in Court Proceedings
- 15-6-33 Interrogatories to Parties
- 15-6-34 Discovery and Production of Documents and Things for Inspection, Copying, or Photographing
- 15-6-35 Physical and Mental Examinations and Blood Tests of Persons
- 15-6-36 Admission of Facts and of Genuineness of Documents
- 15-6-37 Refusal to Make Discovery — Consequences
Part VI. Trials
Cited as SDCL § · 17 active rules
- 15-6-38 Jury Trial of Right
- 15-6-39 Trial by Jury or by the Court
- 15-6-40 Assignment of Cases for Trial
- 15-6-41 Dismissal of Actions
- 15-6-42 Consolidation — Separate Trials
- 15-6-43 Evidence
- 15-6-44 Proof of Official Record
- 15-6-44.1 Determination of Foreign Law
- 15-6-45 Subpoena
- 15-6-46 Exceptions Unnecessary
- 15-6-47 Jurors
- 15-6-48 Juries of Less than Twelve — Majority Verdict
- 15-6-49 Special Verdicts and Interrogatories
- 15-6-50 Motion for a Directed Verdict and for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict
- 15-6-51 Instructions to Jury — Objection
- 15-6-52 Findings by the Court
- 15-6-53 Referees
Part VII. Judgment
Cited as SDCL § · 10 active rules
- 15-6-54 Judgment — Costs
- 15-6-55 Default
- 15-6-56 Summary Judgment
- 15-6-57 Declaratory Judgments
- 15-6-58 Entry of Judgment and Orders
- 15-6-59 New Trials — Amendment of Judgments
- 15-6-60 Relief from Judgment or Order
- 15-6-61 Harmless Error
- 15-6-62 Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment
- 15-6-63 Disability of a Judge
Part VIII. Provisional and Final Remedies and Special Proceedings
Cited as SDCL § · 8 active rules
Part IX. Expedited Civil Actions
Cited as SDCL § · 8 active rules
- 15-6-72 Expedited civil actions — General provisions.
- 15-6-72.1 Local intergovernmental actions — Alternative dispute resolution.
- 15-6-72.2 Local government body — Defined.
- 15-6-73 Discovery in expedited civil actions.
- 15-6-74 Motions.
- 15-6-75 Procedure for expedited trials.
- 15-6-76 Settlement conference — Alternative dispute resolution.
- 15-6-76.1 Claim preclusion — Issue preclusion.
Part X. Circuit Courts and Clerks
Cited as SDCL § · 2 active rules
- 15-6-77 Circuit Courts and Clerks
- 15-6-78 Circuit Courts and Clerks Reserved
- 15-6-80 Stenographic report or transcript as evidence.
Part XI. General Provisions
Cited as SDCL § · 6 active rules
Section 15-6-78 and 15-6-79 are printed in the official code as one combined "[Reserved]" entry with no operative text, shown as a single muted row. Eleven other lettered subdivisions within otherwise-active rules are themselves dead stubs (Repealed: 5(f), 5(j), 40(b); Superseded: 6(c), 26(f), 31(d), 43(b), 43(c), 45(e); Omitted: 81(b); Transferred: the bare "15-6-58" pointer, whose real content lives in 58(a)-(b)) -- these are noted, muted, and unlinked within their parent rule's own page rather than shown as separate dead-stub rows, since South Dakota's own dead-stub convention operates below the rule-number level that this site organizes pages around.