Opinion ID: 2220807
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedure or Standing.

Text: I disagree with Circuit Judge Hurd's opinion on standing because this is a public matter. These funds are sufficiently public and Plaintiffs' right to challenge the disposition of same was sufficiently public. As this court stated in 1937, [i]t has become the settled law of this state that a taxpayer need not have a special interest in an action or proceedings nor suffer special injury to himself to entitle him to institute an action to protect public rights. State ex rel. Jensen v. Kelly, 65 S.D. 345, 347, 274 N.W. 319, 321 (1937) (citations omitted). See generally Kanaly v. State, 368 N.W.2d 819 (S.D.1985) (ownership, special interest, or injury is not a prerequisite to litigate a case involving public funds). [1]