Opinion ID: 1594768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: whether the trial court may require the attorney general to prosecute when the state's attorney has been disqualified.

Text: This issue, too, has been rendered moot by our holding, supra. However, because of its importance, we feel compelled to give guidance to trial courts should similar circumstances arise in the future. The trial court here based its order on SDCL 7-16-2, which provides: The circuit court, whenever there shall be no state's attorney for the county or when the state's attorney is absent or unable to attend to his duties or is adversely interested or disqualified, may appoint, by an order to be entered in the minutes of the court, some duly licensed attorney and counselor at law to perform for the time being the duties required by law to be performed by the state's attorney and the person so appointed shall thereupon be vested with all the powers of such state's attorney for that purpose.... This statute makes no reference to the court's authority to appoint the attorney general's office to assume the duties of a disqualified state's attorney. The appropriate, traditional practice in this state has been for the court to appoint another attorney in the same locality to serve in the absence or disqualification of the state's attorney. Our research fails to reveal any authority or instance where the attorney general could be mandatorily appointed to serve in lieu of a state's attorney. [3] For the foregoing reasons, the circuit court's order is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. HENDERSON, J., concurs. WUEST, C.J., concurs specially. MORGAN, J., concurs in part and dissents in part. SABERS, J., dissents.