October 9, 2024

Resource Page

This is a Resource Page for Police Departments within Union County; The County Sheriff’s Office; and or the County Coroner.

8/30/2016  Process to request and secure a blood sample when an officer is potentially exposed to a blood borne pathogen

  1. If officer is exposed to a bodily fluid the officer should seek medical attention.
  2. Report the incident to his / her supervisor and make a workman’s comp claim.
  3. Keep all bills associated with the event.
  4. Officer or Supervisor within the same department should request that the defendant provide by consent a blood sample for testing.
    1. Click on this link and use the form provided which includes the second pages that sets out the process.
    2. Give the defendant a copy of the statute included with this step.
    3. A RED TOP blood tube must be used for this purpose.  The lab will not be able to test the blood if another kind / color tube is used.
  5. If the defendant provides a sample send the sample to the Dept. of Health along with a copy of the consent form and the lab will test the blood within 48 hours of receiving the sample.  See SDCL 23A-35B-3.  If no Consent go to #6.
  6. If the defendant did not consent SDCL 23A-35B-3 then requires that the officer request in writing, that the State’s Attorney’s Office request a probable cause hearing for a search warrant to  draw the defendant’s blood for testing. This is an officer safety issue only and not an evidentiary hearing.
  7. The officer should fill out a search warrant and an affidavit in support of a search warrant.
    1. The court will be looking for probable cause that the Defendant was either bleeding, or somehow covered in a bodily fluid which either intentionally or inadvertently was transferred to the officer.
    2. That the officer was exposed or through the actions involved in the event that the officer’s skin was broken allowing for a contact contamination.
    3. Detail gained at the officer’s appointment in which the doctor identified how easily a contamination can occur would assist in this portion of the affidavit.
  8. On the search warrant there are two types of search warrant that you can request, add the following 3rd option: Blood Sample to be tested pursuant to SDCL 23A-35B-3.
  9. On the affidavit in support of request for search warrant that you can initial the two types of warrants, add and initial the following 3rd option:  Blood sample from the defendant to be tested for blood borne pathogens pursuant to SDCL 23A-35B-3.
  10. Once the application for the search warrant is signed and notarized;  the search warrant is completed; the written request for a probable cause hearing has been completed and collected, this office will move forward with a hearing.
    1. Depending upon the detain in the affidavit, the officer’s presence may be required at the hearing.
  11. Once the search warrant has been signed, the blood must be collected by an approved medically trained person and the blood must be stored and mailed in a RED TOP blood tube must be used for this purpose.  The lab will not be able to test the blood if another kind / color tube is used.
  12. A return will still need to be completed.

8/22/16   Domestic Violence Class (Elk Point, SD)

8/16/16     Emergency Mental Illness Forms (accepted by the Chairman of the Union County Mental Illness Board)

Power Point ~ Emergency Mental Illness Training (presented on August 22, 2016)  Instructor Mike McGill

06/2/2014        South Dakota Risk Assessment Worksheet (Blank) Form – South Dakota Risk Assessment Worksheet

05/16/2013      23-14-9.2. Autopsy fees–Coroner performing autopsy–County of residence to pay for  autopsy.

A physician or surgeon appointed under § 23-14-9.1 shall receive a reasonable fee for his  services to be ascertained and approved by the board of county commissioners and paid out of the  general fund of the county. If the coroner is a physician or surgeon, he may personally perform such  autopsy; and he shall receive a reasonable fee for his services to be ascertained and approved by the  board of county commissioners and paid out of the general fund of the county. If the death or autopsy  occurs in a county other than the decedents’ county of residence, the county of residence shall  reimburse the county where the autopsy occurred for the cost of the autopsy, provided that the county  of residence either requested the autopsy or is the site where the accident or injury leading to the  death occurred.

As of June 1, 2013, LCM Pathologists have changed there general practice and will require the below referenced form to be filled out to document which statutory agency is requesting an autopsy.  This form must be received prior to the beginning of any requested autopsy.   The same form can also be found at http://www.sanfordhealth.org/Locations/2029053809 .

Click here for the form to be filled out by either the County Coroner, County Sheriff, of the State’s Attorney.

SD Crime Victim’s Rights – Marsy’s Card (Effective July 1, 2018)

❶ The right to due process and to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s dignity;

❷ The right to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse;

❸The right to be reasonably protected from the accused and any person acting on behalf of the accused;

❹The right to have the safety and welfare of the victim and the victim’s family considered when setting bail or making release decisions;

❺The right, upon request, to prevent the disclosure to the public or anyone acting on behalf of the defendant in a criminal case, of information or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family, or which could disclose confidential or privileged information about the victim, and to be notified of any request for such information or records.  This does not limit law enforcement from sharing information with the public for the purposes of enlisting the public’s help in solving crime;

❻The right, upon request, to privacy, which includes the right to refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request, and to set reasonable conditions on the conduct of any such interaction to which the victim consents;

❼The right, upon request, to reasonable, accurate and timely notice of, and to be present at, all proceedings involving the criminal or delinquent conduct, including release, plea, sentencing, adjudication and disposition, and any proceeding during which a right of the victim is implicated;

❽The right, upon request, to be promptly notified of any release or escape of the accused;

❾The right to be heard in any proceeding involving release, plea, sentencing, adjudication, disposition or parole, and any proceeding during which a right of the victim is implicated;

❿The right, upon request, to confer with the attorney for the government;

⓫The right to provide information regarding the impact of the offender’s conduct on the victim and the victim’s family to the individual responsible for conducting any pre-sentence or disposition investigation or compiling any pre-sentence investigation report or plan of disposition, and to have any such information considered in any sentencing or disposition recommendations;

⓬The right, upon request, to receive a copy of any pre-sentence report or plan of disposition, and any other report or record relevant to the exercise of a victim’s right, except for those portions made confidential by law;

⓭The right, upon request, to the prompt return of the victim’s property when no longer needed as evidence in the case;

⓮The right to full and timely restitution in every case and from each offender for all losses suffered by the victim as a result of the criminal conduct and as provided by law for all losses suffered as a result of delinquent conduct;

⓯The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, and to a prompt and final conclusion of the case and any related post-judgment proceedings;

⓰The right, upon request, to be informed of the conviction, adjudication, sentence, disposition, place and time of incarceration, detention or other disposition of the offender, any scheduled release date of the offender, and the release of or the escape by the offender from custody;

⓱The right, upon request, to be informed in a timely manner of all post-judgment processes and procedures, to participate in such processes and procedures, to provide information to the release authority to be considered before any release decision is made, and to be notified of any release decision regarding the offender. Any parole authority shall extend the right to be heard to any person harmed by the offender;

⓲ The right, upon request, to be informed in a timely manner of clemency and expungement procedures, to provide information to the Governor, the court, any clemency board and other authority in these procedures, and to have that information considered before a clemency or expungement decision is made, and to be notified of such decision in advance of any release of the offender; and

⓳ The right to be informed of these rights, and to be informed that a victim can seek the advice of an attorney with respect to the victim’s rights. This information shall be made available to the general public and provided to each crime victim in what is referred to as a Marsy’s Card.

A victim is defined as a person against whom a crime or delinquent act is committed. In the case of a victim who is killed or incapacitated as a result of the crime or delinquent act, or who is a minor, the term also includes any spouse, parent, child, sibling, or as designated by the court, grandparent, grandchild, or guardian. A victim is not the accused or a person whom the court finds would not act in the best interests of a deceased, incompetent, minor or incapacitated victim.

The victim, the retained attorney of the victim, a lawful representative of the victim, or the attorney for the government, upon request of the victim, may assert and seek enforcement of these rights and any other right afforded to a victim by law in any trial or appellate court, or before any other authority with jurisdiction over the case, as a matter of right. The court or other authority shall act promptly on such a request.

Bond may be set for certain offenses without a proceeding.  In those cases, notice to the crime victim may not be provided before release.

Crime victims may obtain additional information regarding these rights by logging on to http://atg.sd.gov/victim/marsyslaw.aspx .

Victims may request enforcement of these rights by logging on to http://savin.sd.gov, or by contacting the State’s Attorney’s office in the county in which the crime or delinquent act was committed.  A list of State’s Attorney contact information may be found at http://sdstatesattorneys.org/sd-states-attorneys.