# South Dakota Table of Authorities: Appellate Briefs

> South Dakota appellate tables under SDCL 15-26A-60: alphabetical cases, brief-page references, appellee scope and PDF-to-Word review.

*Updated: 2026-10-14*

**South Dakota requires an authorities table in the appellant’s brief under SDCL 15-26A-60(2).** The codified court rule calls for a table of cases, alphabetically arranged, statutes and other cited authorities, with references to the brief pages where they are cited. Section 15-26A-61 makes the appellee’s brief conform to the same requirements. This guide addresses Supreme Court civil appellate briefing under chapter 15-26A, not every circuit-court memorandum.

[Generate a South Dakota table of authorities](/table-of-authorities-generator?court=generic#tool) from your brief’s PDF, review the entries and download editable Word output. Choose **standard format**, not a South Dakota-specific preset; this state has no named preset. Sources checked October 14, 2026.

**Fast facts for civil appeals**

- Governing provision: SDCL 15-26A-60(2), a codified Supreme Court rule, places the authorities table after the table of contents.
- Cases must be alphabetical; statutes and other cited authorities belong in the table too.
- References identify pages of this brief, not reporter pages or pages of the appellate record.
- Appellee coverage comes from SDCL 15-26A-61, not an assumption that only appellants need tables.
- SDCL 15-26A-62 confines a reply to new matter raised by the appellee; it does not repeat the principal-brief table requirement.
- SDCL 15-26A-66(b)(3) excludes the table of cases from word and character limitations. Other brief-format requirements remain separate.

## Read the table requirement alongside the issue statement

> “A table of cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes and other authorities cited, with references to the pages of the brief where they are cited.” — SDCL 15-26A-60(2)

The chapter is titled Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure. Its briefing provisions are court rules published in the Codified Laws; the section’s legislative-style number does not make the table optional. Section 15-26A-60 lists the appellant’s components in order: contents, authorities, jurisdictional statement, legal issues, case and facts, argument, conclusion and appendix.

South Dakota also has a distinctive issue-statement requirement. Under subsection (4), each issue is followed by how the trial court decided it, a list of the most relevant cases **not exceeding four**, and the most relevant constitutional and statutory provisions. That focused list is not the authorities table. Do not impose its four-case ceiling on the table or omit authorities cited elsewhere because they did not make the issue list.

**Requirement matrix: keep these lists separate**

| Component | Source and purpose | Review action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Authorities table | 15-26A-60(2): cited cases, statutes and other authorities | Include citations throughout the brief; alphabetize cases and supply brief pages. |
| Issue authorities | 15-26A-60(4): most relevant cases, no more than four per issue | Select the strongest issue-specific authorities; do not treat this as the complete index. |
| Appellee table | 15-26A-61: conforms to 15-26A-60 | Generate from the appellee’s own text and pagination, not the appellant’s table. |
| Reply | 15-26A-62: confined to new matter in appellee brief | Check applicable directions before deciding front matter; do not infer an express table mandate from this section alone. |
| Appendix contents | 15-26A-60(8): separately numbered appendix and its contents | Keep appendix locations distinct from brief-page references in the authorities table. |

## Review the table as a navigation aid

Use a clear table heading and readable case, statute and other-authority groups. The grouping is a practical choice, not a claim that subsection (2) prescribes every category label. A case’s reporter starting page and pinpoint identify the source; the table’s page column identifies where the reader can find its use in your brief. Preserve those separate functions.

Reconcile full citations, shortened case names and subsequent references to the same decision. When two entries appear similar, compare the complete citation before merging: related proceedings can produce distinct decisions. Scan the jurisdictional statement, legal issues and footnotes as well as the argument, because the rule’s table language is not limited to argument citations. The quoted provision does not resolve a passim policy; concrete page references avoid asking the reader to search the entire document.

## PDF to reviewed table to editable Word

- **Export the working brief.** Use a PDF with the printed brief-page numbers you intend to retain. Keep the matching Word file if you want insertion into the editable brief.
- **Start in standard format.** Open the [Table of Authorities generator](/table-of-authorities-generator?court=generic#tool), add the PDF and confirm the actual court and settings. Detected court information or a sample can override the entry selection.
- **Review every authority.** Resolve short forms, merge genuine duplicates, add missed citations and verify each printed-page reference against the PDF. Keep the four-case issue list separate from this completeness review.
- **Download or insert.** PDF-only produces an editable Word table to place after the contents. A matching Word file plus text-layer PDF can insert ordinary table text into that file. Neither route rewrites the rest of your brief.
- **Check the assembled PDF again.** Insertion or later edits may move pages. Re-export and recheck all references, regenerating when necessary. Fonts, full-brief layout and filing requirements need their own review.

The DOCX-only route is different: it creates Word TA fields and a TOA field for Word for Windows to build and update. For ordinary editable table text on a Mac, use the PDF workflow. The tool does not restyle citations or add e-filing bookmarks.

> **Build the table, then verify the brief:** Brief Authority is free and requires no account. Your brief is processed on your device, with no upload of the document. Start with standard format and retain responsibility for every citation and final page reference.

[Create a standard-format table](/table-of-authorities-generator?court=generic#tool)

Free. No account. Your brief stays in your browser, never uploaded.

## Frequently asked

**Does South Dakota require the appellee to include a table?**

Yes for the chapter 15-26A briefing covered here. Section 15-26A-61 says the appellee’s brief shall conform to 15-26A-60, which includes the table requirement.

**Can I list only four cases in the table?**

No. The four-case restriction belongs to each issue’s list of most relevant cases under 15-26A-60(4). Subsection (2) instead covers cited cases, statutes and other authorities.

**Is the appendix table of contents the same thing?**

No. The appendix has separate numbering and its own table of contents under subsection (8). An authorities entry points to the pages where the authority is cited in the brief.

**Does the table count toward the type-volume limit?**

Section 15-26A-66(b)(3) excludes the table of cases from the word and character limitations. That does not exempt the rest of the brief from the applicable length, typeface or certificate requirements.

**Does this requirement apply to a trial-court motion?**

This guide does not establish that. It addresses civil appellate briefs under chapter 15-26A. Check the particular trial-court rules, local directions and case order before transferring the requirement.

**Related guides**

- [Tables of authorities by state](/table-of-authorities-by-state)
- [Authorities table format](/table-of-authorities-format)
- [Create a table from a PDF](/table-of-authorities-from-pdf)

**Official sources and verification**

- [SDCL 15-26A-60: Appellant brief contents](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-26A-60.html): Official codified rule text read October 14, 2026; source history ends with a January 1, 2007 effective amendment, not the date checked.
- [SDCL 15-26A-61: Appellee brief](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-26A-61.html): Official text read October 14, 2026; conformity requirement.
- [SDCL 15-26A-62: Reply brief](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-26A-62.html): Official text read October 14, 2026; reply scope.
- [SDCL 15-26A-66: Length of briefs](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-26A-66.html): Official text read October 14, 2026; subsection (b)(3) exclusions.