April 4, 1975

Mr. Wilson Kleibacker
Lake County State's Attorney
Post Office Box 284
Madison, South Dakota 57042

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 75-59

Interpretation of SDCL 7-12-18(27)

Dear Mr. Kleibacker:

You have requested an official opinion as to the proper interpretation of SDCL 7-12-18(27).

SDCL 7-12-18(27) provides:

The sheriff shall be entitled to charge and receive the following fees and traveling expenses:
(27) For boarding prisoners, per day, not exceeding three dollars to be determined by the board of county commissioners;

Your question has two parts: 1) does "boarding prisoners" require the prisoner to be fed before the fee can be collected, and 2) does "per day" mean per calendar day or per 24 hours spent in custody?

The term "boarding" clearly involves the matter of giving or receiving food. In re Doubleday, 159 N.Y.S. 947, 949, 173 App. Div. 739. It is my opinion that SDCL 7-12-18(27) is clearly limited to apply to the situation where the sheriff actually provides "board." In my opinion, this in effect means actually providing food to the prisoner before the fee under SDCL 7-12-18(27) could be legitimately collected.

With respect to your second question, it is significant to note that SDCL 2-14-2(7) defines "day" as the period from midnight to midnight. There is no other statutory definition of "day" and I cannot construe the meaning of "day" in SDCL 7-12-18(27) any differently. This means that if a prisoner is placed in custody before midnight and is released before midnight on the following day, two days are involved. If a prisoner is placed in custody after midnight and is released before the next midnight, the period of custody is just one day.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM J. JANKLOW
ATTORNEY GENERAL

WJJ:DOC:rw