This is because in the first instance, under the doctrine of separation of powers, an administrative agency is empowered to determine its own jurisdiction. Rapid City Area School District No. 51-4 v. de Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421 (S.D. 1982). In cases where no extraordinary factual situation exists, this court has required the exhaustion of administrative remedies, citing its preference for the use of appropriate statutory machinery.
[¶ 13] We have said in administrative law cases any judicial relief will require the exhaustion of administrative remedies, such as an appeal from a final agency decision, before an extraordinary writ may be issued. Rapid City Area Sch. Dist. v. de Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421, 422-3 (SD 1982). This is because any claim for judicial relief, concerning a cause over which an administrative agency has jurisdiction, constitutes a jurisdictional defect to the claim for judicial relief. Jansen v. Lemmon Federal Credit Union, 1997 SD 44, ¶ 7, 562 N.W.2d 122, 124 (citing Matter of Notice Demand to Quash, etc., 339 N.W.2d 785, 786 (SD 1983)).
SDCL 1-36A-1.3. "Under the doctrine of separation of powers, an administrative agency, a branch of the executive department[,] is empowered to determine its own jurisdiction." Rapid City Area School Dist. No. 51-4 v. de Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421, 422 (S.D. 1982) (citing Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 303 U.S. 41, 58 S.Ct. 459, 82 L.Ed. 638 (1938)). The Department's jurisdiction specifically includes the authority and responsibility for treatment and case management of persons committed to the HSC.
Robinson, supra at 866. See also Meyerink v. Northwestern Public Service Co., 391 N.W.2d 180 (S.D. 1986); Rapid City Area School Dist. v. De Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421 (S.D. 1982). A practical reason for this requirement is that the dispute may be resolved at the administrative level, thus avoiding judicial involvement in the matter.
We disagree. In Rapid City Area School Dist. v. de Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421, 422 (S.D. 1982), we cited the United States Supreme Court's decision in Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 303 U.S. 41, 58 S.Ct. 459, 82 L.Ed. 638 (1938), for the proposition that "[u]nder the doctrine of separation of powers, an administrative agency, a branch of the executive department is empowered to determine its own jurisdiction." In Myers, the question for decision was whether a district court had equity jurisdiction to enjoin the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from holding a hearing upon a complaint filed against an employer alleged to be engaged in unfair labor practices.
"[A] writ of prohibition may be issued only `where there is not a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law.' SDCL 21-30-2." Rapid City Area School Dist. v. de Hueck, 324 N.W.2d 421, 423 (S.D. 1982). Appellant had methods available within the original small claims proceedings that would have allowed her to present the testimony of her additional witness and would have provided her with an appeal and a transcript.