South Dakota Penal Code Made Simple

by Kimani Upshur, M.Ed.

You live under South Dakota’s criminal code every day — but you have probably never read a page of it. That ends now. South Dakota Penal Code Made Simple translates the South Dakota Codified Laws, Title 22 — Crimes — into plain English: how felonies and misdemeanors are classified and punished, including a felony class system that runs the opposite direction from most states, how a case moves from arrest to sentencing, and what the major crimes actually carry — homicide, assault, rape, burglary, robbery, theft, drugs, and DUI. The book explains how self-defense really works under South Dakota’s 2021 use-of-force law, what happens after a conviction, and the rights that protect you at every step, including the victims’ rights written into the state constitution, with every statute checked against the actual code. Written by educator Kimani Upshur, M.Ed., its twelve short chapters — about ten minutes each — are built on three words: Know. Stand. Guard. This is general information only, not legal advice, and the book says so plainly. Written from a Christian worldview — Scripture first.