Court Opinion

ID: 9707715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:19:27.248379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:41:49.856691
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
The established precedent in this jurisdiction has long been that attorney fees are not awarded as costs unless specifically authorized by statute. See O’Connor v. King, 479 N.W.2d 162 (S.D.1991).
SDCL 15-17-38 does not provide for the piggybacking of attorney fees incurred in a mental commit action onto the costs awarded in a paternity action. Further, there cannot be adequate appellate review of an issue when this court is required to assume the trial court either reviewed or considered the attorney fees as a debt. Awarding of attorney fees in this ease could certainly lead to the opening of the flood gates for ingenious claims for attorney fees in future litigation. Therefore, I would reverse this award of attorney fees.
I agree with Justice Wuest’s special writing on the income tax exemption and concur in the balance of the majority writing.