CHAPTER 138

(HB 1145)

Utility right-of -way maintenance.

         ENTITLED, An Act to  revise certain provisions concerning utility right-of-way maintenance.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:

     Section  1.  That § 21-3-10 be amended to read as follows:

     21-3-10.   For wrongful injury to timber, trees, or underwood upon the land of another, or removal thereof, the measure of damages is three times such a sum as would compensate for the actual detriment, except where the trespass was casual and involuntary, or committed under the belief that the land belonged to the trespasser, or where the wood was taken by the authority of highway officers for the purpose of a highway; in which case the damages are a sum equal to the actual detriment. The Guide for Plant Appraisal, Ninth Edition, as published by the International Society of Arboriculture as of January 1, 2007, shall be used as a guide to measure the actual damages for the wrongful injury to trees or plants.

     Signed March 2, 2007

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