STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
OFFICE OF
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

April 2, 1969

Keith A. Tidball
State's Attorney, Hughes County
Pierre, South Dakota 57501

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 69-30

Justice of the Peace fees allowable for entering guilty plea

Dear Mr. Tidball:

You have requested an official opinion based upon the following factual situation:

"'A' has been arrested for speeding and was given a citation on a uniform traffic ticket by a South Dakota Highway Patrolman and was ordered to appear in Justice Court at a given time and place. The Defendant appeared in person and entered a plea of guilty."

Your specific question is:

"Under the given fact situation, what fees can a Justice of the Peace assess for his services?"

The fees which a Justice of the Peace may allowably charge are enumerated in SDC 1960 Supp. 32.0806, SDCL 16-12-11. For the purposes of this opinion, only those subsections which apply to your specific question shall be listed. The Justice of the Peace would be entitled to receive the following fees by virtue of the following subsections of SDCL 960 Supp. 32.0806:

1. Docketing each cause ………………………………………..     $1.00

2. Taking Affidavit (of arresting officer) ……………………………     .25

3. Filing complaint, or other papers necessary

in the cause (judgment), two filings at 10c…………………………..     .20

9. Entering judgment..……………………………………………     1.00

15. Issuing warrant…………...…………………………………….   .75

16. Taking complaint……………………………………………….   .75

17. Discharge………………………………………………...........    .50

23. Attendance upon hearing or trial of a cause,

for the first hour or fraction thereof…………………......………        1.00

The total allowable fees for a hearing of the type described, assuming that it takes one hour or less, would therefore be $5.45.

My predecessors have held that the Justice of the Peace is not entitled to charge a fee for attendance where the defendant pleads guilty, 1922 AGR page 287, 1939-40 AGR page 640, since they held that a plea of guilty did not constitute a trial. However, since that time, through Chapter 122 Session Laws of 1954, the word "hearing" was added to subsection 23 permitting an attendance fee upon hearing or trial of a cause. A hearing has been ruled to include every step where the judge is called upon to rule for or against any party to the cause. State ex rel Leback v. Chavez, 113 P 2d 179. It is my opinion, therefore, that a plea of guilty constitutes a hearing there· by allowing an attendance fee.

Respectfully submitted,

Gordon Mydland
Attorney General