49-31-25Disclosure of contents, refusal to send or forging receipt of message as misdemeanor--Judicially ordered disclosure excepted.

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person connected in any capacity with a telecommunications company, with the intent to injure, deceive or defraud the sender or intended receiver thereof, or the company or provider, or to benefit himself or any other person, to:

(1)    Intentionally divulge the contents or the nature of a private communication entrusted to him for transmission or delivery;

(2)    Refuse or neglect to transmit or deliver the private communication; or

(3)    Intentionally forge the name of the intended receiver to the private communication.

The provisions of this section do not apply to any person who divulges the contents of a private communication upon the order of a circuit court judge.

Source: SDC 1939, §§ 52.1319, 52.9926; SL 1983, ch 15, § 116; SL 1987, ch 345, § 69.