If a defendant appears in court, personally or by his attorney, he shall be asked whether he admits or denies the commission of the offense alleged in the complaint. If he admits the commission of the alleged offense, the court shall accept his admission and enter a judgment against him for the amount established by § 23-1A-22. If a defendant denies the allegations in a complaint, the case may be tried at that time. A jury trial may not be granted for petty offenses, but conduct for the trial of a petty offense shall otherwise be governed by the rules of civil procedure. If either the defendant or plaintiff requests a continuance, a court may set a later date for trial, which may not exceed thirty days from the date of the initial appearance. A defendant's request for a continuance may not be granted unless he deposits with the court a sum equal to the amount set by § 23-1A-22.
S.D. Codified Laws § 23-1A-17
Acceptance of admission in court and entry of judgment--Trial if allegations denied--Procedure--Deposit required for continuance
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Ludemann (2010)
Most recently applied in State v. Ludemann (February 2010)
Source: SL 1977, ch 193, § 16; SL 1980, ch 26, § 29; SL 1984, ch 12, § 14.
How often courts cite this section
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.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.