S.D. Codified Laws § 22-11-9

False reporting to authorities--Misdemeanor

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Mohr (2013)

Most recently applied in State v. Biteler (December 2025)

Source: SL 1975, ch 171, §§ 1, 2; SDCL Supp, § 22-13-16; SL 1976, ch 158, § 11-23; SL 2005, ch 120, § 201.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Any person who:

(1) Except as provided in § 22-11-9.2, knowingly causes a false fire or other emergency alarm to be transmitted to, or within, any fire department, ambulance service, or other government agency which deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property;

(2) Makes a report or intentionally causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or other incident within their official concern, knowing that it did not occur; or

(3) Makes a report or intentionally causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities which furnishes information relating to an offense or other incident within their official concern, knowing that such information is false;

is guilty of false reporting to authorities. False reporting to authorities is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.