When You're Here ~ You're Home! (605) 583-2320

Chapter 4.01     Board of Health & Health Department

4.0101     Established

There is hereby established a Board of Health as follows: The Mayor shall, at the first meeting of the City Council in the month of May of each year, appoint one alderman from each ward in the city, who together with the Health Officer as herein provided, shall constitute the Board of Health. The Finance Officer shall serve as Clerk of the Board of Health.

4.0102     Appointment, Term and Qualification of Health Officer

On the first meeting of the City Council in the month of May each year, there shall be appointed one City Health Officer, who shall be a physician in good standing and in active practice of his/her profession in the City of Scotland who shall hold his/her office one (1) year and until his/her successor be selected and qualified. Before entering upon the duties of his/her office, he/she shall take the Constitutional Oath of office for the faithful performance of his/her duties; and shall receive such compensation as the City Council may determine in accordance with Section 2.0205, subsections 6 & 8.

4.0103     Physician Definition

The word “physician”, within the meaning of the previous section, shall include every person who practices about the care of sick or injured, or who has charge of, or professionally prescribes for compensation for any persons injured, sick or diseased.

4.0104     Meetings

A majority of the members of the Board of Health shall constitute a quorum for any and all meetings of said Board, which meetings shall be held upon call of the Mayor, the City Health Officer, or any member of the Board. The Clerk of the board shall notify the members of the meetings so called either personally or by first class mail to their last known address.

4.0105     Powers

The Board of Health shall have the power to establish such sanitary regulations as will, in their judgment, prevent the spread of diseases; to establish pest houses or temporary hospitals and to provide for removal of persons affected with contagious or infectious diseases to such pest houses or temporary hospitals.

4.0106     Books and Records

It shall be the duty of the Board of Health to keep a record book to be known as Board of Health Regulations and it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Board to record, in said Book, all sanitary regulations of a permanent character, together with the minutes of the proceedings of the Board of Health.

4.0107     Duties of the City Health Officer

The City Health Officer shall be the presiding member of the Board of Health. He/she shall give the Mayor and the City Council and the Board of Health all such professional advice and information as they may require in regard to public health, and shall he/she hear of the existence of any contagious or pestilential disease, or the existence of any nuisance dangerous to the public health, as defined by this Title, he/she shall immediately investigate the same and adopt such measures as are reasonably necessary to arrest the same; and it shall be his/her duty to enforce all laws of the State of South Dakota, Ordinances of the City and rulings of the Board of Health, relative to public health.

For the purpose of effectuating the foregoing requirements or other building from sun-up to sun-down, and do whatever may be reasonably necessary in order to make a thorough examination of such conditions or nuisances dangerous to public health, as he/she may in the interest of public health and on good cause, believe to exist.

4.0108     Notice, How Served

In order to carry out the provisions of the foregoing section, it shall be the duty of the City Health Officer to serve or cause to be served a notice in writing, signed by him/her, upon the owners, occupant or agent of any lot, buildings or premises, in or upon which any nuisance dangerous to health is found to exist, requiring them to abate such condition in the manner as he/she shall prescribe; and such notice shall be served by the Chief of Police, the City Health Officer or any Policeman; and if such owner, occupant or agent shall neglect or refuse, he/she shall be subject to the penalty hereinafter provided, and it shall be the duty of said Health Officer to proceed at one, upon the expiration of the time specified in said notice to cause such condition or nuisance to be abated; provided that whenever the owner, occupant or agent cannot be found, the said Health Officer shall proceed to abate the same without notice; and in either case the expense of such abatement shall be charged up as a special tax assessment, the same to be collected at the time and in the manner as provided for collection of other taxes or such expenses may be recovered by a civil action for that purpose.

4.0109     General Duty to Report Disease

It shall be the duty of every physician, hotel/motel, boarding/rooming house, restaurant, public resort, or school superintendent or principal of any school within the City of Scotland to report to the City Health Officer, each and every case of contagious or infectious disease coming to their knowledge or attention under pain of the penalty hereinafter provided.

4.0110     Quarantine, Posting

It shall be the duty of the head of any family in the City of Scotland, whenever it shall come to his/her notice, that any member of his/her family or any person lodging within his/her dwelling is afflicted with any contagious or infectious disease, to immediately procure and post an appropriate sign or notice of such fact.

4.0111     Removal of Quarantine Signs or Notices Herein Provided

It shall be unlawful for any person to remove any sign or notice provided for by this title, except where the same was posted at their insistence and in all other cases only by authority of the City Health Officer.

4.0112     Children in School

No child, minor or person from any house where an person is sick with any infectious or contagious disease, shall attend any public, private or sectarian school in this City until the recovery or death of the sick person or persons as the case may be, nor until provided with a permit in writing, signed by the attending physician, if any, if not, by the City Health Officer, which permit must be presented to the principal or superintendent of said school before said child or person shall be allowed to remain. And it shall be the duty of all persons in authority in such schools to require such permit under pain of the penalty hereinafter provided.

4.0113     Classes of Nuisances Dangerous to Public Health

The commission of each and every one or any one of the acts enumerated herein is hereby declared to be a nuisance dangerous to public health to be dealt with as this title provides:

          1) No person shall erect or maintain any privy or cesspool within twenty feet (20’) of any street or dwelling within the

corporate limits of the City of Scotland, nor maintain within said limits, any privy or cesspool that emits any foul odor.

2) No person shall between the first day of April and the first day of November of any year deposit or permit to be deposited

or thrown in or upon any alley or lot within said City any manure, which shall be permitted to remain so deposited for a

period exceeding twenty-four (24) hours, at any one time and each and every such deposit shall be removed entirely,

once in every twenty-four (24) hours.

3) Nor person owning, or having in possession or control, any hogs, sheep, cows, poultry, horses or other animals at any

place within the corporate limits of said City shall permit or suffer the premises around the place in which such animal(s)

are kept to be or remain offensive nor shall any person keep any such animal(s) within fifty feet (50’) of any dwelling

house, and no person shall keep any hogs within two hundred feet (200’) of any dwelling house, except that of the owner

of such hogs within the limits of the City of Scotland.

4) No person shall throw, drop or deposit or leave any dead carcass or portion thereof of any fowl, animal, or other offensive

or unwholesome substance upon any public street, alley or other public ground of the City of Scotland.

5) No occupant of any building or lot in said City of Scotland shall permit any dead fowl, animals, or other offensive or

unwholesome substances whatever to remain in such building or upon such lot for a period exceeding twenty-four (24)

hours, nor shall any person permit any such dead fowl, animals or other unwholesome or offensive substances to remain

in or upon any lot or tenement or between the same and center of the street or alley adjoining.

6) All keepers of hotels/motels, restaurants or other persons accumulating garbage are hereby required to keep and maintain

a proper covered receptacle for such garbage and to cause the contents thereof to be regularly removed at least once

each week, or oftener if necessary.

4.0114 Duty of Chief of Police to Act in Absence of City Health Officer

It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to assist the City Health Officer in the enforcement of this Title, and in the event of the absence, inability or incapacity of the City Health Officer from acting to abate any nuisance dangerous to public health, the Chief of Police shall act in his/her place and stead and in the manner hereinbefore prescribed for such City Health Officer to abate such nuisances.

​​​When You're Here ~ You're Home! (605) 583-2320

When You're Here ~ You're Home! (605) 583-2320