Rule 1.Scope of Chapter

Rule 15-6-1 sets the boundaries of the whole chapter before anything else happens. It tells you where these rules apply (the circuit courts of South Dakota), what kind of cases they cover (suits of a civil nature), and where to look for the cases they do not cover (the exceptions listed in § 15-6-81). Everything that follows in this chapter — pleading, service, discovery, motions, trial — operates within that boundary.

The rule then states a governing purpose: the chapter must be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. That instruction is not decorative. When a later rule is ambiguous or a court has discretion to exercise, this purpose clause gives the court a yardstick — a reading that needlessly delays a case or drives up its cost cuts against the point of having uniform procedural rules in the first place.

Because Rule 15-6-1 sits at the front of the chapter, it frames how to read everything after it. A litigant confused about whether a particular kind of case falls under these rules should start here and then check § 15-6-81 for the carved-out exceptions, rather than assuming the general procedural rules apply to every proceeding a circuit court might hear.