Adverse possession in South Dakota
In South Dakota, a suit to recover real property requires that the owner or a predecessor held or possessed it within twenty years before the suit (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-1).
How long it takes in South Dakota
Where the claim rests on a written instrument, twenty years of continued occupation makes the included premises held adversely (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-10).
South Dakota has a ten-year rule for a possessor under good faith color of title who stays in possession for ten successive years and pays all taxes in that time (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-15).
Sources: SD twenty years; SD written instrument; SD ten years with taxes
What the statute requires
Without a written instrument, land counts as possessed only where it was protected by a substantial enclosure or usually cultivated or improved (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-13).
Source: SD enclosure or cultivation
Land and people the clock does not run against
The ten-year tax payment rules do not reach school lands, lands of the United States or the state, or lands of religious or charitable societies (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-17).
Source: SD public and school lands
Fences and boundary lines
Neighboring landowners in an unincorporated area may sign a partition fence agreement waiving the provisions of SDCL chapter 15-3 (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-20).
Source: SD partition fence agreement
Common questions
How many years for adverse possession in South Dakota?
In South Dakota, a suit to recover real property requires that the owner or a predecessor held or possessed it within twenty years before the suit (S.D. Codified Laws 15-3-1).