When Police Are Called To A House
SDCL § 23A-3-2.1 — an arrest the officer shall make, within forty-eight hours of an assault or on a violated order
- A protection order's terms against abuse or threats, or excluding the person from a residence, were violated.
- A stalking or physical injury order's terms were violated.
- A person eighteen years or older assaulted someone in a covered relationship within the preceding forty-eight hours.
Shall arrest. On probable cause of one of those, together with an aggravated assault, an assault causing bodily injury whether visible or not, or a physical menace putting someone in fear, the officer shall arrest without a warrant.
The Fourth Amendment draws its firmest line at the entrance to a home, and the Supreme Court of the United States has held where it falls in situations police meet at a door. Absent consent or exigent circumstances, officers may not enter a home without a warrant to make a routine felony arrest. Where one occupant consents to a search of a shared home and another who is physically present expressly refuses, the search is unreasonable as to the one who refused. And officers may enter without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis for believing someone inside is seriously injured or imminently threatened with such injury. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
A protection order is a separate case in civil court. A particular call is a question for a licensed South Dakota attorney.
Sources for this section (4)
- SDCL § 23A-3-2.1 — Circumstances permitting warrantless arrests
- Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980) — Warrantless entry into a home to make a routine arrest is barred
- Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103 (2006) — A present occupant's refusal defeats another occupant's consent
- Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006) — Police may enter to render emergency aid
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Dakota attorney.