South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who compose a large portion of the population and historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the seventeenth largest by area, but the fifth smallest by population and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls, with a population
Capital punishment in South Dakota first act he signed as governor. All subsequent executions have been by lethal injection. Capital punishment in South Dakota Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of October 2018, four condemned, all white males, have been executed since capital punishment was reinstated in the state in 1979; two of those cases were prisoners who waived their normal appeals and choose to be put to death. When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous. In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase