Guide
Overview
The Argus Leader in Sioux Falls is South Dakota's largest newspaper, and the Rapid City Journal covers the Black Hills and the western half of the state. The Aberdeen American News, the Watertown Public Opinion, the Mitchell Republic, the Capital Journal in Pierre, the Yankton Press & Dakotan, the Brookings Register, the Huron Plainsman and the Madison Daily Leader cover their regions, and South Dakota Searchlight and the Dakota Scout cover state government online. About a hundred weeklies serve the state's 66 counties.
South Dakota newspapers carry the legal notices state law requires in each county's official newspapers, publish obituaries for every county, and hold court coverage that pairs with the Unified Judicial System's record search.
Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.
Guide
South Dakota Newspapers
Find local and statewide newspaper publications for South Dakota. Access news, sports, classified, entertainment, and archived articles.
Guide
Major South Dakota newspapers and what they cover
The Argus Leader covers Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, the Sioux Falls federal court and state government through its Pierre coverage, with back issues from the 1880s onward in the digital archives. The Journal covers Rapid City, Pennington County, Ellsworth Air Force Base and the reservations of western South Dakota. The Capital Journal covers Pierre, the legislature and the South Dakota Supreme Court, and the American News covers Aberdeen and the northeast. County weeklies such as the Faulk County Record, the Lyman County Herald and the Todd County Tribune carry county commission proceedings, sheriff's reports and circuit court notices in full.
Guide
Historic South Dakota newspapers online
The South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre holds newspaper microfilm for every South Dakota newspaper ever published and contributes titles to Chronicling America through the South Dakota Digital Newspaper Project. The Siouxland Libraries provide free access to the Argus Leader archive with a library card, and the Rapid City Public Library does the same for the Journal. The South Dakota State Library's digital archives add selected titles.
- Chronicling America, South Dakota newspapersFree digitized South Dakota newspapers from the Library of Congress
- South Dakota State Historical SocietyNewspaper microfilm, state archives and research services
- South Dakota public noticesStatewide search of legal notices published in South Dakota newspapers
Guide
Legal notices, public notices and obituaries in South Dakota
South Dakota law requires each county to designate official newspapers for foreclosure sale notices, notices to creditors in probate, name changes, tax deed notices and county commission, city and school board proceedings, and the South Dakota Newspaper Association collects those notices in a statewide search. The dailies and most weeklies in South Dakota publish obituaries, and the State Historical Society keeps an obituary index. Court coverage pairs with the Unified Judicial System's public record search, which charges a fee per search.
Guide
Browse Newspapers by State
Straight answers
South Dakota Newspaper Directory, questions
What is South Dakota's largest newspaper?
The Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, followed by the Rapid City Journal, the Aberdeen American News, the Watertown Public Opinion and the Mitchell Republic.
Where are historic South Dakota newspapers online?
Chronicling America carries South Dakota titles through the South Dakota Digital Newspaper Project, and the State Historical Society in Pierre holds every South Dakota newspaper on microfilm.
Where are South Dakota foreclosure notices published?
In the official newspapers of the county, collected in the South Dakota Newspaper Association's statewide public notice search.