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State & Federal

South Dakota

History of the Death Penalty

All exe­cu­tions were car­ried out by hang­ing until 1947, when George Sitts was exe­cut­ed by elec­tro­cu­tion. Executions since 1976 have used lethal injection.

Timeline

1877 — Jack McCall becomes the first per­son exe­cut­ed by the gov­ern­ment in the ter­ri­to­ry that is now South Dakota.

1915 — South Dakota abol­ish­es the death penalty.

1939 — The death penal­ty is rein­stat­ed with elec­tro­cu­tion as the only method of execution.

1979 — The death penal­ty is rein­stat­ed fol­low­ing the U.S. Supreme Court’s deci­sion in Furman v. Georgia.

1984 — Lethal injec­tion is first avail­able as a method of exe­cu­tion in South Dakota.

2018 — Charles Rhines asks U.S. Supreme Court to review his case and to rule that it is uncon­sti­tu­tion­al for jurors to impose the death penal­ty based on anti-gay ani­mus and stereotypes.

2019 — The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the case of Charles Rhines, despite juror’s anti-gay state­ments and reliance on homo­pho­bic beliefs in decid­ing to sen­tence him to death.

2020 — The Senate Judiciary Committee votes down a bill that would have pro­hib­it­ed the use of the death penal­ty against indi­vid­u­als with severe mental illness.

2021 — A South Dakota state sen­a­tors intro­duces a bill that would restrict cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to pre­med­i­tat­ed mur­ders in which a defen­dant kills a police offi­cer, cor­rec­tions offi­cer, or fire­fight­er dur­ing the per­for­mance of their offi­cial duties. The bill would also lim­it the death penal­ty to the actu­al per­pe­tra­tor of the crime.

Famous Capital Cases

The first per­son exe­cut­ed by the gov­ern­ment in the land that is now South Dakota was Jack McCall, the man con­vict­ed of killing Wild Bill Hickok. The exe­cu­tion hap­pened in 1877.

The sec­ond per­son exe­cut­ed in the land that is now South Dakota was Thomas Egan, who was con­vict­ed of killing his wife. He was ​“hanged” three times on the 13th of July 1882; the rope broke on the first attempt, and on the sec­ond attempt the rope did not break his neck. Only on the third attempt did the exe­cu­tion go as planned. Years lat­er, his step­daugh­ter admit­ted to com­mit­ting the crime when she was on her death bed.

In 2001, Elijah Page and Briley Piper plead­ed guilty to the tor­ture-mur­der of Chester Allan Poage. They were both sen­tenced to death by a judge. Darrell Hoadley chose to plead inno­cent to the mur­der and was con­vict­ed by a jury. Though he was found to have the same aggra­vat­ing fac­tors against him, a split sen­tenc­ing jury led to him receiv­ing life in prison. Page chose to end his appeals and was exe­cut­ed in 2007. Piper chal­lenged his death sen­tence and had his death sen­tence vacat­ed. He is sched­uled to be re-sen­tenced by a jury in July of 2011.

Milestones in Abolition/​Reinstatement

Fourteen peo­ple were exe­cut­ed in what is now South Dakota before the death penal­ty was abol­ished in the state in 1915.

The death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed, with exe­cu­tion by elec­tric chair as the only method, in 1939. One per­son, George Sitts in 1947, was exe­cut­ed before the death penal­ty was found to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al by the United States Supreme Court in 1972.

Other Interesting Facts

In 1984, South Dakota law was changed to pro­vide for exe­cu­tion by lethal injection.

South Dakota Badlands. Photo by Travis Schultze.

Resources

  • South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
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South Dakota Execution Totals Since 1976


News & Developments


News

Feb 23, 2022

Kentucky and South Dakota Advance Bills to Bar Death Penalty for People with Severe Mental Illness

Bills that would exempt indi­vid­u­als with severe men­tal ill­ness from the death penal­ty have tak­en major steps for­ward in the Kentucky and South Dakota leg­is­la­tures. The Kentucky House of Representatives vot­ed over­whelm­ing­ly (76 – 19) on February 9, 2022, to advance its severe men­tal ill­ness exemp­tion, HB 269, to the state sen­ate. The South Dakota Senate fol­lowed on February 22, vot­ing 21 – 14 to pass SB 159. Both bills have Republican…

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News

Jan 26, 2021

Former South Dakota Prosecutor and Judge Introduces Bill to Limit the State’s Death Penalty

A South Dakota state sen­a­tor who pre­vi­ous­ly served as a pros­e­cu­tor and a state court judge has intro­duced a bill to lim­it the breadth of the state’s death penal­ty statute. Senate Bill 98, intro­duced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arthur Rusch (R – Clay, pic­tured) on January 25, 2021, would restrict cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to a sin­gle aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance, pre­med­i­tat­ed mur­ders in which a defen­dant killed a police officer,…

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News

Oct 12, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of October 5, 2020

NEWS (10/​5/​20) — Washington, D.C.: The 2020 – 2021 U.S. Supreme Court term opened on October 5 with the Court declin­ing to review chal­lenges to more than 30 death-penalty court…

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News

Nov 04, 2019

South Dakota Prisoner Executed After Supreme Court Denies Review of Anti-Gay Bias, Denial of Mental Health Expert

Whether South Dakota death-row pris­on­er Charles Rhines (pic­tured) lives or dies may depend less on whether he was con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death and more on whether the courts val­ue final­i­ty more than they val­ue fair­ness. As Rhines filed two sep­a­rate peti­tions in the U.S. Supreme Court and an appeal in the South Dakota Supreme Court on November 1, the South Dakota Department of Corrections announced that…

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News

Jun 28, 2019

During National Pride Month, South Dakota Schedules Execution in Case Tainted by Anti-Gay Bias

In the midst of National Pride Month com­mem­o­rat­ing the 50th anniver­sary of the Stonewall Riots and the birth of the mod­ern LGBTQ rights move­ment, South Dakota has issued a death war­rant seek­ing to exe­cute a gay man whose death sen­tence was taint­ed by anti-gay bias. Charles Rhines (pic­tured) was sen­tenced to death by a jury that, accord­ing to juror affi­davits, was influ­enced by big­ot­ed stereo­types in reach­ing its deci­sion. On June 25,…

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View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: Yes
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 5
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include fed­er­al and military executions): 15
  • Current Death Row Population: 1
  • Women on Death Row: 0
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 0
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 0
  • Date of Reinstatement (fol­low­ing Furman v. Georgia): January 1, 1979
  • First Execution After Reinstatement: 2007
  • Location of Death Row: South Dakota State Penitentiary, Sioux Falls
  • Location of Executions: South Dakota State Penitentiary, Sioux Falls
  • Capital: Pierre
  • Region: Midwest
  • Population: 886,667*
  • Murder rate (per 100,000 population): 1.92
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Can a defen­dant get death for a felony in which s/​he is not respon­si­ble for the murder?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: Injection
  • How is Sentence Determined?: Jury
  • Clemency Process: Governor has sole author­i­ty to grant clemency
  • Governor: Kristi Noem
Upcoming Executions

Upcoming Executions

Information about scheduled executions around the country

Innocence

Innocence

For every 8.2 peo­ple exe­cut­ed in the Unit­ed States in the mod­ern era of the death penal­ty, one per­son on death row has been exon­er­at­ed.

State-By-State

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States With and Without the Death Penalty

DPI Fact Sheet

DPI Fact Sheet

PDF handout with facts about the Death Penalty

More Information


Innocence Database

Execution Database

Death Penalty Census Database

Death Penalty Information Center
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