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South Dakota HOA Rules for Board Members (2026)

New to a South Dakota HOA or condo board? Before you send a violation letter or set a fine, it helps to know what the law actually says. Here are the South Dakota rules in plain words, each with its statute section and a link to the official text.

South Dakota homeowners associations and condominium councils of co-owners. South Dakota has no HOA or common-interest-community law: the violation, hearing and fine steps come from your declaration or covenants, articles, bylaws, rules and enforcement policy. Kindly Board walks a fair, documented process and shows the few state rules that apply. Where a step comes from your documents, it says so.

The short version: South Dakota law sets no periods for these steps, so Kindly Board uses the dates from your notice (your documents set them). If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, ask a South Dakota attorney.

Updated October 2026. Not legal advice.

Which South Dakota law applies

  • South Dakota has no homeowners-association or common-interest-community law that sets violation-notice, cure, hearing or fine steps, and no South Dakota statute gives an HOA or condominium association the power to fine, sets a fine cap or appeal, or gives it an assessment lien. HOAs run on their recorded declaration or covenants, articles, bylaws and rules; the condominium chapter (43-15A) covers creation, common areas, insurance and developer sales only.

    S.D. Codified Laws ch. 43-15A; ch. 11-5; chs. 47-22 to 47-28 (no violation procedure set)

  • The condominium chapter covers creating a condominium by recorded master deed or lease, common areas, the council of co-owners (all co-owners), required insurance, and a developer's sales; it has no provisions on violations, fines, hearings, meetings, records or assessment liens. No management or recreation-facility contract made by a developer may run longer than two years; later ones are made by the council of co-owners.

    S.D. Codified Laws §43-15A-1(3); §43-15A-4(4); §43-15A-24

  • South Dakota law (for the firearm and seller-disclosure rules) defines a homeowners' association as an association with authority, under recorded covenants, bylaws or other governing documents, to assess and record liens against members' property. Whether your association has that authority depends on your documents, not on a statute.

    S.D. Codified Laws §11-5-9; §43-4-44.1

  • No South Dakota statute gives an HOA or condominium association the power to fine, or sets a fine cap or a fine appeal. A board may fine only if its declaration, bylaws or rules give it that power; the amount and process come from those documents. If they don't, talk to a South Dakota attorney first.

    S.D. Codified Laws (no fine rule set); your documents

How South Dakota counts days

  • South Dakota's general rule for an act the law requires: don't count the first day; count the last day, unless it is a holiday, in which case it is also excluded. Whether this rule reaches a period set by your own documents is a question for a South Dakota attorney; no South Dakota statute sets periods for a violation.

    S.D. Codified Laws §2-14-14

Violation notices and the chance to fix in South Dakota

Hearings in South Dakota

  • South Dakota law sets no separate path for a one-time violation. Follow your documents: notice and a chance to be heard before any fine is the fair course.

    S.D. Codified Laws (no violation types set)

  • South Dakota law sets no hearing right, hearing deadline or hearing-notice period for a violation, and has no open-meeting statute for HOA or condominium boards; your bylaws and enforcement policy control. At least 10 days' notice of a hearing is common practice, not a South Dakota rule.

    S.D. Codified Laws (no hearing procedure set)

Assessments, late fees and liens in South Dakota

Meetings and votes in South Dakota

  • Nonprofit corporations: board meetings are held on the notice the bylaws prescribe; the statute doesn't require the notice to state the business (your bylaws may). Board quorum is a majority of the fixed number of directors unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise (never less than one-third); the act of a majority present at a quorum is the board's act unless more is required.

    S.D. Codified Laws §47-23-21; §47-23-20

  • Nonprofit corporations: action without a meeting needs written consent signed by all the directors (or all the members entitled to vote).

    S.D. Codified Laws §47-23-6

  • Nonprofit corporations: unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, written notice of a members' meeting (place, day, hour, and the purpose of a special meeting) is delivered not less than 10 nor more than 50 days before, personally or by mail; absent a bylaw, members holding one-tenth of the votes are a quorum.

    S.D. Codified Laws §47-23-7; §47-23-12

Records in South Dakota

  • Nonprofit corporations keep correct and complete books and records of account, minutes of members', board and committee proceedings, and a record of voting members' names and addresses. Any member, or the member's agent or attorney, may inspect all books and records for any proper purpose at any reasonable time; no response deadline in days is set.

    S.D. Codified Laws §47-24-1; §47-24-2

Other rules boards should know

  • South Dakota law doesn't sort violations into types. Your documents decide whether an ongoing violation gets a period to fix it, and how long.

    S.D. Codified Laws (no violation types set)

  • An HOA may not include or enforce a governing-document provision that prohibits or restricts the lawful possession, transportation or storing of a firearm, a part or ammunition, or the lawful discharge of a firearm; such a covenant provision is void and unenforceable, and the rest of the covenant stands.

    S.D. Codified Laws §11-5-9; §43-12-7

  • Restrictions made under §§11-5-1 and 11-5-2 (a landowners' declaration or contract in a first or second class municipality) last as they provide but not more than 40 years from the date of the declaration or contract; if such a declaration has no modification clause, two-thirds of the owners it governs may modify it. Unclear whether this reaches covenants not made under chapter 11-5; ask a South Dakota attorney about an old covenant's life.

    S.D. Codified Laws §11-5-4; §11-5-11; §11-5-1

Step by step: a South Dakota violation case

The order Kindly Board walks a South Dakota board through, from the first look to the last letter.

  1. Check before you start Every case
    Find the rule, and the steps your own documents require.
  2. Courtesy reminder Optional
    A friendly first note before any formal notice.
  3. Formal notice of violation Before any fine (per your documents)
    The rule, the facts, the fix-by date and how to be heard, in the form your documents require.
  4. Hearing (if the owner asks, or your documents require one) Per your documents
    A fair chance to be heard before the Board decides.
  5. Board vote on the fine Before a fine
    Only if your documents allow fines, at a proper board meeting.
  6. Notice of fine After the vote
    Amount, due date, how to pay, and the rule behind it.
  7. Close the case Every case
    Record how it ended and keep the file.

South Dakota HOA rules: FAQ

What HOA law applies in South Dakota?

South Dakota homeowners associations and condominium councils of co-owners. South Dakota has no HOA or common-interest-community law: the violation, hearing and fine steps come from your declaration or covenants, articles, bylaws, rules and enforcement policy. Kindly Board walks a fair, documented process and shows the few state rules that apply. Where a step comes from your documents, it says so. The main sources: Your documents, plus S.D. Codified Laws ch. 11-5, ch. 43-15A and the Nonprofit Corporation Act (chs. 47-22 to 47-28).

How are days counted for South Dakota HOA deadlines?

South Dakota law sets no periods for these steps, so Kindly Board uses the dates from your notice (your documents set them). If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, ask a South Dakota attorney.

What does South Dakota law say about violation hearings?

South Dakota law sets no separate path for a one-time violation. Follow your documents: notice and a chance to be heard before any fine is the fair course. (S.D. Codified Laws (no violation types set))

Can South Dakota owners see the association's records?

Nonprofit corporations keep correct and complete books and records of account, minutes of members', board and committee proceedings, and a record of voting members' names and addresses. Any member, or the member's agent or attorney, may inspect all books and records for any proper purpose at any reasonable time; no response deadline in days is set. (S.D. Codified Laws §47-24-1; §47-24-2)

Official text

Nearby and related states

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