(a) Appointment and compensation. A court in which any action is pending may appoint a referee therein. A referee must not have a relationship to the parties, counsel, action, or court that would require disqualification of a judge under the Code of Judicial Conduct, unless the parties consent with the court’s approval to appointment of a particular person after disclosure of any potential grounds for disqualification. When a reference is made as provided by statute the fees and necessary expenses shall be ordered paid from such source as is designated therein, otherwise the compensation to be allowed to a referee shall be fixed by the court, and shall be charged upon such of the parties or paid out of any fund or subject matter of the action, which is in the custody and control of the court as the court may direct. The referee shall not retain his report as security for his compensation; but when the party ordered to pay the compensation allowed by the court does not pay it after notice and within the time prescribed by the court, the referee is entitled to a writ of execution against the delinquent party. In cases involving an order for support as defined in subdivision 25-7A-1(12), any referee appointed to hear the case may recommend the imposition of attorney’s fees and costs on one or both of the parties. The referee in any hearing held pursuant to chapter 25-7A and the provisions of §§ 25-7A-6 and 25-7A-22, shall be compensated by the court.
Rule 53.Referees
Part VI: Trials · Last amended 2006 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceRule 15-6-53 makes referring a civil case to a referee the exception rather than the rule, sets the referee’s appointment, compensation, and powers, and spells out how a referee’s report gets filed, objected to, and treated differently in nonjury and jury actions.
Full Text of Rule 15-6-53
(b) Reference as exceptional. Except as provided in chapter 25-7A, a reference to a referee shall be the exception and not the rule. In actions to be tried by a jury, a reference shall be made only when the issues are complicated; in actions to be tried without a jury, save in matters of account and difficult computation of damages, a reference shall be made only upon a showing that some exceptional condition requires it.
(c) Powers of referee. The order of reference to the referee may specify or limit his powers and may direct him to report only upon particular issues or to do or perform particular acts or to receive and report evidence only and may fix the time and place for beginning and closing the hearings and for the filing of the referee’s report. Subject to the specifications and limitations stated in the order, the referee has and shall exercise the power to regulate all proceedings in every hearing before him and to do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance of his duties under the order. He may require the production before him of evidence upon all matters embraced in the reference, including the production of all books, papers, vouchers, documents, and writings applicable thereto. He may rule upon the admissibility of evidence unless otherwise directed by the order of reference and has the authority to put witnesses on oath and may himself examine them and may call the parties to the action and examine them upon oath. When a party so requests the referee shall make a record of the evidence offered and excluded in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as provided in § 15-6-43(c) for a court sitting without a jury.
(d) Proceedings before referee.
(1) Meetings. When a reference is made, the clerk shall forthwith furnish the referee with a copy of the order of reference. Upon receipt thereof unless the order of reference otherwise provides, the referee shall forthwith set a time and place for the first meeting of the parties or their attorneys to be held within twenty days after the date of the order of reference and shall notify the parties or their attorneys. It is the duty of the referee to proceed with all reasonable diligence. Either party, on notice to the parties and referee, may apply to the court for an order requiring the referee to speed the proceedings and to make his report. If a party fails to appear at the time and place appointed, the referee may proceed ex parte or, in his discretion, adjourn the proceedings to a future day, giving notice to the absent party of the adjournment.
(2) Witnesses. The parties may procure the attendance of witnesses before the referee by the issuance and service of subpoenas as provided in § 15-6-45. If without adequate excuse a witness fails to appear or give evidence, he may be punished as for a contempt and be subjected to the consequences, penalties, and remedies provided in §§ 15-6-37 and 15-6-45.
(3) Statement of Accounts. When matters of accounting are in issue before the referee, he may prescribe the form in which the accounts shall be submitted and in any proper case may require or receive in evidence a statement by a certified public accountant who is called as a witness. Upon objection of a party to any of the items thus submitted or upon a showing that the form of statement is insufficient, the referee may require a different form of statement to be furnished, or the accounts or specific items thereof to be proved by oral examination of the accounting parties or upon written interrogatories or in such other manner as he directs.
(e) Referee’s report.
(1) Contents and Filing. The referee shall prepare a report upon the matters submitted to him by the order of reference and, if required to make findings of fact and conclusions of law, he shall set them forth in the report. He shall file the report with the clerk of the court and in an action to be tried without a jury, unless otherwise directed by the order of reference, shall file with it a transcript of the proceedings and of the evidence and the original exhibits. The clerk shall forthwith mail to all parties notice of the filing.
(2) In Nonjury Actions. In an action to be tried without a jury the court shall accept the referee’s findings of fact unless clearly erroneous. Within ten days after being served with notice of the filing of the report any party may serve written objections thereto upon the other parties. Application to the court for action upon the report and upon objections thereto shall be by motion and upon notice as prescribed in § 15-6-6(d). The court after hearing may adopt the report or may modify it or may reject it in whole or in part or may receive further evidence or may recommit it with instructions.
(3) In Jury Actions. In an action to be tried by a jury the referee shall not be directed to report the evidence. His findings upon the issues submitted to him are admissible as evidence of the matters found and may be read to the jury, subject to the ruling of the court upon any objections in point of law which may be made to the report.
(4) Stipulation as to Findings. The effect of a referee’s report is the same whether or not the parties have consented to the reference; but, when the parties stipulate that a referee’s findings of fact shall be final, only questions of law arising upon the report shall thereafter be considered.
(5) Draft Report. Before filing his report a referee may submit a draft thereof to counsel for all parties for the purpose of receiving their suggestions.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 15-6-53 treats a reference to a referee as an unusual step rather than a routine one. Outside certain support proceedings under chapter 25-7A, a court should refer a jury case to a referee only when the issues are complicated, and a nonjury case only on a showing of some exceptional condition, apart from matters of account or difficult damage computations. The referee appointed cannot have a relationship to the parties, counsel, the action, or the court that would require a judge to step aside under the Code of Judicial Conduct, unless the parties consent after full disclosure. Compensation is fixed by the court or set by the statute authorizing the reference, and while a referee cannot hold the report hostage over unpaid fees, an unpaid referee can get a writ of execution against the party who owes it.
Once appointed, the referee runs the hearing much like a judge would, within the bounds the order of reference sets. The referee can compel production of documents and other evidence, rule on the admissibility of evidence unless the order says otherwise, and put witnesses and even the parties under oath for examination. If a party asks, the referee has to record the evidence offered and excluded, the same way a judge sitting without a jury would. The referee must set the first meeting of the parties within twenty days of receiving the order of reference, and either side can ask the court to speed things along if the referee is not moving with reasonable diligence. If a party does not show up, the referee can proceed without them or adjourn to another day. Witnesses can be compelled to attend by subpoena, with the same contempt consequences that apply to any other South Dakota witness who ignores one.
What happens to the referee’s report depends on whether a jury is involved. In a nonjury case, the referee files the report along with a transcript and the exhibits, the clerk notifies the parties, and any party has ten days to object in writing. The court then reviews the referee’s findings under the same clearly erroneous standard that applies to a judge’s own findings, and can adopt, modify, reject, or send the report back to the referee with instructions, or take further evidence itself. In a jury case, the referee is not asked to report the underlying evidence at all — the findings themselves are admissible and can be read to the jury, subject to whatever objections the court allows.
Two smaller provisions round out the rule. If the parties stipulate in advance that the referee’s findings will be final, only questions of law arising from the report remain open afterward. And before filing the finished report, a referee may circulate a draft to counsel for all parties to gather their suggestions first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it common for a South Dakota civil case to be sent to a referee?
No. Rule 15-6-53(b) treats reference to a referee as the exception, not the rule, requiring complicated issues in a jury case or an exceptional condition in a nonjury case, apart from matters of account or difficult damage computations, and apart from certain support proceedings under chapter 25-7A.
How soon after being appointed must a referee schedule the first meeting with the parties?
Rule 15-6-53(d)(1) requires the referee to set the time and place for the first meeting within twenty days after the date of the order of reference, unless that order says otherwise.
What happens if a party does not show up for a hearing before the referee?
Rule 15-6-53(d)(1) lets the referee proceed without that party, or, at the referee’s discretion, adjourn the proceedings to a later day and notify the absent party of the new date.
How much deference does a referee’s findings of fact get in a nonjury South Dakota case?
Rule 15-6-53(e)(2) requires the court to accept the referee’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous, the same deferential standard that applies to a judge’s own findings under Rule 15-6-52.
Can the parties agree in advance to make a referee’s findings final?
Yes. Rule 15-6-53(e)(4) provides that if the parties stipulate that the referee’s findings of fact will be final, only questions of law arising from the report remain to be considered afterward.
Amendment History
(a)SD RCP, Rule 53 (a), as adopted by Sup. Ct. Order March 29, 1966, effective July 1, 1966; SL 1989, ch 175, § 1; 2006, ch 327 (Supreme Court Rule 06-53).
(b)SD RCP, Rule 53 (b), as adopted by Sup. Ct. Order March 29, 1966, effective July 1, 1966; as amended by Sup. Ct. Order No. 2, March 31, 1969, effective July 1, 1969; SL 1989, ch 175, § 2.
(c)SD RCP, Rule 53 (c), as adopted by Sup. Ct. Order March 29, 1966, effective July 1, 1966.
(d)SD RCP, Rule 53 (d), as adopted by Sup. Ct. Order March 29, 1966, effective July 1, 1966.
(e)SD RCP, Rule 53 (e), as adopted by Sup. Ct. Order March 29, 1966, effective July 1, 1966.
Source & verification. Rule text and History are
reproduced verbatim from the South Dakota Codified Laws, published by the
South Dakota Legislative Research Council. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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