MEIERHENRY, Justice.
[¶ 1.] Nicholas Rondell appeals an adverse ruling on a suppression motion. Rondell was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Rondell claimed that the traffic stop was an unconstitutional search and seizure and moved to suppress evidence resulting from the stop. After the trial court denied Rondell's motion, he entered into a plea agreement with the State. The State and Rondell agreed that Rondell would enter a "conditional guilty plea" to preserve his right to appeal the court's adverse suppression motion ruling. The trial court accepted the conditional guilty plea — also with the understanding that the agreement contemplated that Rondell was preserving his right to appeal. On appeal, but without filing a notice of review, the State raises the issue whether Rondell waived his right to appeal. The State claims that South Dakota law does not provide for a conditional guilty plea and that a benefit of the bargain plea under North Carolina v. Alford waives all non-jurisdictional defects, including allegations of an unconstitutional traffic stop.
[¶ 2.] Rondell was arrested for: driving under the influence of alcohol, third offense, a violation of SDCL 32-23-1; driving with a revoked license, a violation of SDCL 32-23-4; possession of an open container, a violation of SDCL 35-1-9.1; and underage consumption, a violation of SDCL 35-9-2. Before trial, Rondell filed a motion to suppress evidence gathered the night he was arrested. Rondell argued to the trial court that the officer did not have reasonable suspicion to make a lawful traffic stop. The trial court denied Rondell's motion, finding that reasonable suspicion justified the stop. After his suppression motion was denied, Rondell changed his not guilty plea to a conditional guilty plea. In exchange for Rondell's plea, the state's attorney dismissed the charges for underage consumption, open container, and driving with a revoked license.
[¶ 3.] The State, Rondell, and the trial court understood that the plea was entered as a conditional plea. The following exchange took place at the plea hearing:
[¶ 4.] The only pleas permitted in South Dakota are set forth in SDCL 23A-7-2 (Rule 11(a)) as follows:
This statute does not provide for conditional pleas.
[¶ 5.] As support for his argument that South Dakota could permit conditional pleas, Rondell points to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2). Federal Rule 11(a)(2) permits conditional pleas under certain circumstances. The Federal Rule provides: "With the consent of the court and the government, a defendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty or nolo contendere, reserving in writing the right to have an appellate court review an adverse determination of a specified pretrial motion. A defendant who prevails on appeal may then withdraw the plea." Id.
[¶ 6.] Rondell recognizes that South Dakota has not adopted a similar rule, but asserts that "there is nothing in South Dakota's Rules of Criminal Procedure that prohibits a conditional plea or the preservation of appeal rights following a guilty plea." Conversely, the State argues that without a rule, the trial court lacks jurisdiction to accept a conditional guilty plea.
[¶ 7.] The Rhode Island Supreme Court faced a similar question in State v. Keohane, 814 A.2d 327 (R.I.2003). The Keohane court addressed whether a defendant's conditional plea agreement, which was not authorized by statute, could preserve for appeal a trial court's denial of the defendant's motion to suppress. Id. at 328-29. The Keohane court held that Rhode Island statutes did not give the trial court the "authority to accept a conditional plea of guilty ... preserving the right of the defendant to obtain review of the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion." Id. at 329. The Keohane court further stated that "[t]he defendant's guilty plea acted as an effective waiver of his right of appeal; thus, the appeal [wa]s not properly before [the] Court." Id. As a result, the Keohane court refused to recognize "a right to a conditional plea subject to appeal" because such a right did not exist by statute. Id.
[¶ 8.] Like Rhode Island, South Dakota does not provide for a conditional guilty plea by statute or court rule. As such, we decline to recognize a conditional plea's validity. Consequently, there was no authority for Rondell and the State to agree to a conditional guilty plea or for the trial court to accept the conditional plea. Cf. State v. Olson, 334 N.W.2d 49, 50 (S.D. 1983) ("This [C]ourt's jurisdiction to entertain appeals is limited by statute ... and it is left to the [L]egislature to expand the right to appeal."); State v. Texley, 275 N.W.2d 872, 874 (S.D.1979); State v. Nuwi Nini, 262 N.W.2d 758, 760 (S.D.1978) ("The right to appeal is statutory and therefore does not exist in the absence of a statute permitting it.").
[¶ 9.] The State takes a rather precarious position on appeal. Initially, the State agreed, as part of the plea agreement, that
[¶ 10.] This case presents an unusual situation where Rondell, the State, and the trial court agreed on a conditional plea, which had no legal basis in statute or court rule. Therefore we conclude that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to accept Rondell's conditional plea. As a result, we hold that Rondell's conditional guilty plea is void. We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
[¶ 11.] GILBERTSON, Chief Justice, and KONENKAMP, ZINTER, and SEVERSON, Justices, concur.