South DakotaJury Nullification
South Dakota's constitution says the jury shall have the right to determine the fact and the law under the direction of the court. A statute has the court state the law and tell jurors they are the exclusive judges of all questions of fact. State law says a jury verdict shall be unanimous. The constitution says the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
Overview
Juries in South Dakota
South Dakota's constitution says the jury shall have the right to determine the fact and the law under the direction of the court. That sentence sits in the section on freedom of speech, straight after a sentence about libel trials. What the section covers is in the South Dakota chapter of the guide.
A South Dakota statute says what the judge has to do in every charge. The court must state all matters of law it thinks necessary, and must also tell the jurors that they are the exclusive judges of all questions of fact.
State law says a jury verdict shall be unanimous and returned in open court. The constitution lets the legislature allow smaller juries in some courts, and its three fourths verdict is for civil cases. What else it says is in the chapter.
The South Dakota chapter
What's in the Guide for South Dakota?
Jury selection
What the South Dakota constitution says about the size of a jury in different courts, what the judge has to tell every jury about the facts, and how state law houses and feeds a jury that is deliberating.
What the judge tells you
The chapter explains the statute that sets out what a judge has to cover in the charge.
How the verdict works
What the unanimous verdict statute says, how a verdict is returned in open court, and what the jurors are asked before the foreman speaks.
Protections and risks
What South Dakota law provides for a jury that has retired to deliberate, from the room the county has to supply to who pays for food and lodging.
The law in plain English
The South Dakota laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statutes on the judge's charge, on unanimous verdicts and on a jury's deliberations, the law on tampering with witnesses, and three sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to South Dakota's official sources, each one checked. They cover the codified laws and constitution on the legislature's site, the listing for the pattern instructions, and the Unified Judicial System's Resources for Jurors page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in South Dakota?
A South Dakota jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to be one of the judges of the facts in a case. The court states the law.
The South Dakota Unified Judicial System has a Resources for Jurors page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What the constitution says about the jury, the fact and the law, what the judge has to tell you in the charge, and how a verdict is returned are covered in the South Dakota chapter of the guide.
Your South Dakota summons
- Sent byThe clerk of courts for your county
- Names come fromThe voter rolls and the driver license and state ID lists
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, be one of the judges of the facts in a case
- Jury size12; fewer by stipulation with the court's approval