South Dakota National Guard State Active Duty Pay and Protections

South Dakota has no state death benefit for a Guard member killed on state active duty, which North Dakota raised to one hundred thousand dollars in 2025 and which is the first thing to check against any published comparison. What it does have is a set of pay and care provisions that are better than most. Pay. Section 33-7-1 pays officers and enlisted members of the National Guard ordered into active service the same compensation, at the same rate of pay, as members of like rank and grade of the armed forces of the United States. That is the federal rate rather than a state schedule, and there is no cap on the number of days at that rate. Officers may not draw state military pay while attending annual encampments if federal regulation pay is received. Where the Guard serves under an agreement with a public agency under chapter 1-24 that provides for reimbursement or direct payment, the member may accept that payment instead, and doing so does not cost the member any other benefit, right, privilege or immunity. Expenses. Section 33-7-6 requires reimbursement of all necessary expenses under 3-9-2 for a member performing state active duty, and defines necessary expenses to include transportation to and from the duty location as directed, subsistence, quarters, and uniform maintenance or replacement. Injury or illness on state active duty. Section 33-7-7 is the strong one. A member temporarily injured or who becomes temporarily ill while serving on state active duty receives medical care at the expense of the state until cleared to return to the member's regular employment by a medical review board appointed by the adjutant general, and remains on state active duty on full pay and allowances until the board releases them. The test is return to the member's own civilian employment, not return to military duty, and the pay continues throughout. A Guard member with a back injury from a sandbagging operation stays on state pay until a board says they can go back to their actual job. Reemployment and civil relief. Section 33A-2-9 provides that any resident of South Dakota who is a member of any state's National Guard and is ordered to active duty service by the governor of that state or by the President has all the protections afforded to persons serving on federal active duty by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The reach is unusual on two counts: it covers a governor-ordered state activation, which federal USERRA does not, and it covers a South Dakota resident serving in another state's Guard. Two small immunities. Section 33-6-2 protects a member of the military forces from arrest on civil process while going to, remaining at, or returning from a required drill or annual training. Section 33-6-4 requires the judge advocate general or another officer designated by the Governor to appear for a Guard member sued for an act done in an official capacity, allows security for costs to be required of the plaintiff, and gives the member double costs and such attorney fees as the court allows if the plaintiff is nonsuited or loses, with the state paying in the first instance. Section 61-1-47 keeps National Guard weekend training payments from being treated as wages for reemployment assistance purposes.