Section 23A-27-35 - Suspension of civil rights on sentence to penitentiary--Prisoner as witness--Restoration of rights on suspension or termination of sentence.
23A-27-35. Suspension of civil rights on sentence to penitentiary--Prisoner as witness--Restoration of rights on suspension or termination of sentence. A sentence of imprisonment in the state penitentiary for any term suspends the right of the person so sentenced to vote, to hold public office, to become a candidate for public office and to serve on a jury, and forfeits all public offices and all private trusts, authority, or power during the term of such imprisonment. Any person who is serving a term in any penitentiary shall be a competent witness in any action now pending or hereafter commenced in the courts of this state, and his deposition may be taken in the same manner prescribed by statute or rule relating to taking of depositions. After a suspension of sentence pursuant to § 23A-27-18, upon the termination of the time of the original sentence or the time extended by order of the court, a defendant's rights withheld by this section are restored.
Source: SDC 1939, § 34.3708 as added by SL 1939, ch 132; SL 1943, ch 128; SDCL, §§ 23-48-35, 23-57-7; SL 1978, ch 178, § 352.