Our civil legal system affords much discretion to the plaintiff (the party who initiates a lawsuit) in terms of who they will name as a defendant or defendants, whether additional plaintiffs should be joined, and the forum in which the lawsuit is filed. Federal court is an available forum for certain types of lawsuits; if a plaintiff chooses (or is required) to file sue in state court, she may also have the option of deciding which state.
In addition to these choices, a plaintiff must also select the venue for the lawsuit. Venue is the “place of trial” within a particular judicial system. On the state level, the venue is the county in which the action is filed. On the federal level, the venue is the district in which an action is filed. Each state’s legislature has enacted provisions for determining the proper venue in a state court action, and Congress has similarly enacted provisions for determining proper venue for federal lawsuits.
Under South Dakota law, there are often multiple counties in which venue may be proper. For example, a plaintiff wishing to sue for injuries arising out of an automobile accident may bring the suit in either the county of the defendant’s residence or the county where the accident took place. If the defendant is a not a resident of the state, the plaintiff is given wide open venue and can file suit in any county in South Dakota.
In some situations, proper venue rests in only one county. For example, lawsuits concerning real estate must be filed in the county where the real estate is located. Also, there are many specialized venue statutes for civil actions that are specific to the cause of action – such as suits for divorce, actions on a promissory note, actions against public officials, etc. Venue also plays a role in criminal prosecutions.
Plaintiffs occasionally file suit in the wrong venue. When this happens, the defendant must timely object, otherwise the ability to complain about improper venue is waived. Assuming the defendant promptly objects (and complies with the technical requirements for making such an objection), the court should transfer the case to the appropriate county. In that event, the plaintiff may be required to pay extra costs.
Authorities: SDCL 15-5-1 through 15-5-13; Miedema v. Great Plains Production Credit, 291 N.W.2d 795 (S.D. 1980); Williams Insurance of Pierre v. Bear Butte Farms, 392 N.W.2d 831, 833 (S.D. 1986).
Note: In regard to the preparation of this week’s column, the author would like to thank attorney Sarah Baron Houy for her assistance and input.
Anyone desiring to communicate with the Author, may do so by sending an e-mail to the author at rogermbaron@gmail.com
Roger Baron is a guest columnist for the Rapid City Post. Opinions expressed may not necessarily represent the views of the Rapid City Post, its affiliates, or advertisers.
