August 9, 1979

Mr. John R. Steele 
Aurora County State's Attorney 
Plankinton, South Dakota 57368

Official Opinion No. 79-26

Sale of county surplus property

Dear Mr. Steele:

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

FACTS: 

Aurora County owns personal property which is no longer necessary for public use and the Commission desires to sell the same at public auction. The property consists of numerous items having an aggregate value of more than $500.00, although no single item has a value of as much as $500.00.

Based upon the above factual situation, you have asked the following question:

QUESTION: 

Must the Commission follow the procedure in SDCL 7-32-2, 3 & 4 or may the simpler and cheaper procedure specified in SDCL 7-32-6 be employed?

In my opinion the Aurora County Commission must follow the procedures set forth in SDCL 7-32-2, 7-32-3, and 7-32-4.  These procedures must be followed when the surplus property consists “of personal property of over five hundred dollars in value.”  SDCL 7-32-2.  It is only when a piece of personal property or the aggregate value of a number of pieces of personal property is valued at less than five hundred dollars that SDCL 7-32-6 may be utilized.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark V. Meierhenry
Attorney General

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