South Dakota Court Records

South Dakota divorces are circuit court cases under SDCL 16-6-9, kept by the county Clerk of Courts. The court records rule in SDCL chapter 15-15A opens the court record to the public under 15-15A-5 and closes financial documents under 15-15A-8(2): tax returns, W-2s, wage stubs, credit card and bank statements, check registers and other financial information, which are filed as confidential documents under 15-15A-9 and reached by non-parties only on a good cause motion under 15-15A-10. The Judgment and Decree of Divorce with the property division under 25-4-44 and the filed Stipulation and Settlement Agreement are public; the Financial Statement UJS-023 that the divorce packets require carries the content the statute protects, and any tax returns, wage stubs or account statements filed with it are confidential by name.

Divorce cases are not in the $20 PARS search; civil summaries come by a Statewide Record Search Request, and open records are read on the public access terminals at every courthouse or requested from the Clerk of Courts. The South Dakota asset search page explains what the decree still shows.

These federal and national sources complement South Dakota's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when South Dakota state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records
The U.S. federal judiciary's unified electronic records system. Every federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate case docket is here.
https://pacer.uscourts.gov/ (pacer.uscourts.gov) U.S. Courts, Federal Court Finder
The official directory of every federal district, bankruptcy, and circuit court. Use it to identify the correct South Dakota district(s) before searching PACER.
https://www.uscourts.gov/federal-court-finder (uscourts.gov) National Center for State Courts
The NCSC's directory of state court websites, technology standards, and public-access policies.
https://www.ncsc.org/information-and-resources/browse-by-state (ncsc.org)  Frequently Asked Questions South Dakota Court Records, FAQ  Last reviewed: April 2026  Updated: October 2026