Subject to the provisions of this chapter and except as expressly provided, if a hospital furnishes emergency hospital services to a medically indigent person, the county where the medically indigent person has established residency is liable to the hospital for the reimbursement of the hospitalization. In the case of nonemergency care, the county of residence is liable only to the extent that the board of county commissioners, in good faith, approves an application for assistance. If a county provides payment for nonemergency services, the services shall be approved by the county before the services are provided. To the extent that the county provides payment to a hospital, the county has the same remedies for the recovery of the expense as are provided by chapter 28-14 for the recovery of money expended for the relief and support of poor and indigent persons.
S.D. Codified Laws § 28-13-33
County liability for emergency and nonemergency hospitalization of indigent persons--Remedies for recovery of expense by county
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case Claussen v. Brookings County (In Re Claussen) (1990)
Most recently applied in Avera St. Mary's Hospital v. Sully County (May 2024)
Source: SL 1953, ch 131, § 3; SDC Supp 1960, § 27.12B03; SL 1976, ch 173, § 19; SL 1988, ch 226, § 2; SL 1997, ch 170, § 11.
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.