Filing an Appeal

Under South Dakota law, civil appeals to the Supreme Court can be filed anytime within 30 days after service of notice of entry of final judgment in circuit court. Appeals of criminal trial judgments must be filed within 30 days after final judgment is handed down in circuit court. 

The parties involved in the appeal are then given time to prepare their case for argument before the Supreme Court.

• Within 10 days after filing a notice of appeal, the attorney for the appellant may order a transcript of the trial from the circuit court reporter. The court reporter has 45 days to prepare the transcript, unless an extension is requested.
• After the trial transcript has been received, the appellant has 45 days to file a brief with the clerk of the Supreme Court. (In appeals of abuse and neglect cases, a 25-day period is given to file a brief.) This brief must identify the errors that the appellant believes were committed at the trial and must cite statutory and case law in support of these arguments. 
• A new 45-day period begins during which the appellee must file a brief. (In appeals of abuse and neglect cases, a 25-day period is given to file a brief.) This brief must answer the points raised by the appellant and cite statutory and case law in support of the appellee’s position. 
• A 30-day period begins during which the appellant may file a reply brief in answer to the points contained in the appellee’s brief. (In appeals of abuse and neglect cases, a 15-day period is given to file a reply brief.)

Once all of these steps have been completed, the case is ready for consideration by the Supreme Court.

• The Supreme Court may decide to hear “oral arguments” in the case, in which both parties are permitted to come before the Court and give a short presentation (an argument) to support their position in the case. There is no trial, the lawyers do not confront each other, and the Court does not take testimony from witnesses. Usually, the attorneys for the parties involved stand before the Court and speak for 15 minutes to emphasize or clarify the main points of the appeal. The members of the Court may ask questions or make comments during the lawyers’ presentations. 
• The public can listen to oral arguments “live” on the UJS website. 
• In other cases, the justices do not hear oral arguments, but rather they consider only the lower court’s trial record and the legal briefs filed by the attorneys in arriving at their decision.
• Following oral arguments, the Court meets in private conference to discuss the cases heard that day, as well as those in which no oral arguments were heard.
• Each case is assigned to one of the justices to study the settled case record, research the law, and write an opinion which affirms, reverses or modifies the ruling of the circuit court. The proposed opinion is circulated among the members of the Supreme Court for review. If a justice concurs with the opinion, the justice will join that opinion. If a justice disagrees, the justice writes a dissenting opinion. When the proposed opinion has received approval by a simple majority of the five justices, it becomes the decision of the Supreme Court. If a justice concurs with the opinion but wishes to address a particular point, the justice will write a special concurrence. 
• Supreme Court opinions are published as formal documents by Thomson Reuters. Opinions are also available online on the UJS website. 
• In limited cases, the Supreme Court may issue an order, rather than an opinion, which affirms or reverses a lower court ruling.  

In South Dakota, every appeal that is ready to be heard by the Supreme Court is placed on the Court’s calendar within a matter of months. Subject to the rules of appellate procedure, everyone has a right to appeal a final decision of the circuit court.

A similar procedure exists to appeal magistrate court decisions to a circuit court. Except for small claims actions, an appeal from magistrate court to circuit court may be filed within 10 days of the magistrate court’s final judgment. Within 30 days after the filing of the trial transcript, the appellant must file a brief. The appellee then has 30 days in which to file an answering brief. Within 10 days after receipt of the appellee’s brief, the appellant may file a reply brief.