                              CONSTITUTION
                                 OF THE
                          STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
                          (as amended to 1975)

                                PREAMBLE

   We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and 
religious liberties, in order to form a more perfect and independent govern- 
ment, establish justice, insure tranquility, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare and preserve to ourselves and to our posterity 
the blessings of liberty, do ordain and establish this constitution for the 
state of South Dakota.

                              ARTICLE VI

                            BILL OF RIGHTS

   Section 1.   All men are born equally free and independent, and have 
certain inherent rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life 
and liberty, or acquiring and protecting property and the pursuit of 
happiness. To secure these rights governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

   Section 2.   No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law.. The right of persons to work shall not be 
denied, or abridged on account of membership or non-membership in any labor 
union, or labor organization. [as adopted Nov. 1946]

   Section 3.   The right to worship God according to the dictates of 
conscience shall never be infringed. No person shall be denied any civil or 
political right, privilege or position on account of his religious opinions; 
but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to 
excuse licentiousness, the invasion of the rights of others, or justify 
practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.
   No person shall be compelled to attend or support any ministry or place of 
worship against his consent nor shall any preference be given by law to any 
religious establishment or mode of worship. No money or property of the state 
shall be given or appropriated for the benefit of any sectarian or religious 
society or institution.

   Section 4.   The right of petition and of the people peaceably to assemble 
to consult for the common good and make known their opinions, shall never be 
abridged.

   Section 5.   Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all 
subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right. In all trials for 
libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives 
and for justifiable ends, shall be sufficient defense. The jury shall have 
the right to determine the fact and the law under the direction of the court.

   Section 6.   The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate and shall 
extend to all cases at law without regard to the amount in controversy, but 
the legislature may provide for a jury of less than twelve in any court not  
a court of record and for the decision of civil cases by three-fourths of the 
jury in any court.

   Section 7.   In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right 
to defend in person and by counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the 
accusation against him; to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses against 
him face to face; to have compulsory process serve for obtaining witnesses in 
his behalf, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of the county or 
district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.

   Section 8.   All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except 
for capital offenses when the proof is evident or presumption great. The 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in 
case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

   Section 9.   No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to give 
evidence against himself or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.

   Section 10.  No person shall be held for a criminal offense unless on the 
presentment or indictment of a grand jury, or information of the public 
prosecutor, except in cases of impeachment, in cases cognizable by county 
courts, by justices of the peace, and in cases arising in the army and navy, 
or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger: 
Provided, that the grand jury may be modified or abolished by law.

   Section 11.  The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall 
not be violated, and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause supported 
affidavit, particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or 
thing to be seized.

   Section 12.  No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts or making any irrevocable grant of privilege, franchise or 
immunity, shall be passed.

   Section 13   Private property shall not be take for public use, or 
damaged, without just compensation, which will be determined according to 
legal procedure established by the Legislature and according to Section 6 of 
this article. No benefit which may accrue to the owner as a result of an 
improvement made by any private corporation shall be considered in fixing the 
compensation for property taken or damaged. The fee of land taken for 
railroad tracks or other highways shall remain in such owners, subject to the 
use for which it is taken. [adopted 1962]

   Section 14.  No distinction shall ever be made by law between resident 
aliens and citizens, in reference to the possession, enjoyment or descent of 
property.

   Section 15.  No person shall be imprisoned for debt arising out of or 
founded upon contract.

   Section 16.  The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil 
power. No soldier shall in time of peace shall be quartered in any house 
without consent of the owner. nor in time of war except in the manner 
prescribed by law.

   Section 17.  No tax or duty shall be imposed without the consent of the 
people or their representatives in the legislature, and all taxation shall be 
equal and uniform.

   Section 18.  No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of 
citizens or corporation, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms 
shall not equally belong to all citizens or corporations.

   Section 19.  Elections shall be free and equal, and no power, civil or 
military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the 
right of suffrage. Soldiers in time of war may vote at their post of duty in 
or out of the state, under regulations to be prescribed by the legislature.

   Section 20.  All courts shall be open, and every man for an injury done 
him in his property, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of 
law, and right and justice, administered without denial or delay.

   Section 21.  No power of suspending laws shall be exercised, unless by the 
legislature or its authority.

   Section 22.  No person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the 
legislature.

   Section 23.  Excessive bail shall not be required, excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted.

   Section 24.  The right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves 
and the state shall not be denied.

   Section 25.  Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war 
against it, or in adhering to its enemies, or in giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two 
witnesses to the same overt act or confession in open court.

   Section 26.  All political power is inherent in the people, and all free 
government is founded on their authority and is instituted for their equal 
protection and benefit, and they have the right in lawful and constituted 
methods to alter or reform their forms of government in such manner as they 
may think proper. And the state of South Dakota is an inseparable part of the 
American Union and the constitution of the United States is the supreme law 
of the land.

   Section 27.  The blessings of a free government can only be maintained by 
a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue and 
by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
