Anti-SLAPP Laws in South Dakota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

South Dakota's anti-SLAPP statute is the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), SDCL Chapter 15-40 (§§ 15-40-1 to -13), enacted by 2026 Senate Bill 137 (Session Laws 2026, chapter 91). It took effect July 1, 2026 under § 2-14-16, the default for a regular-session act that does not prescribe another effective date.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute covers a lawsuit based on: a communication in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; a communication on an issue under consideration or review by such a proceeding; or your exercise of the right to free speech, free press, assembly, petition, or association on a matter of public concern. This is the standard, broad UPEPA scope used by most states that have adopted the model act.

The special motion procedure

The vehicle is a "special motion for expedited relief to dismiss." You must file it within 60 days of being served with the complaint, or later if you can show good cause. Filing it automatically stays discovery and nearly all other proceedings between you and the plaintiff. That stay continues through any appeal of the ruling on the motion. A court can still allow narrow, specifically-justified discovery during the stay if a party shows the information is genuinely necessary and not otherwise available. The court must hold a hearing within 60 days of the filing and rule within 60 days after that hearing.

Burden of proof

The court must dismiss the claim with prejudice if three things are all true: the moving party shows the chapter applies to the claim; the responding party fails to show one of the chapter's exemptions applies; and either the responding party fails to establish a prima facie case on every essential element of its own claim, or the moving party separately shows the claim fails to state a claim at all, or that there's no real factual dispute and the moving party wins as a matter of law. The court decides this using the same kind of record it would use on a summary-judgment motion.

Attorney's fees

A prevailing moving party is entitled to mandatory fees: the statute says the court "shall award" court costs, attorney fees, and reasonable litigation expenses related to the motion. A responding party who wins the motion only gets fees if the court separately finds the motion itself was frivolous or filed solely to delay the case.

Right to appeal

A losing moving party can appeal a denial — in whole or in part — as a matter of right, without waiting for the rest of the case to finish. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the order. Only the defendant who files the special motion gets this express, guaranteed interlocutory appeal; the statute doesn't spell out a parallel right for a plaintiff to immediately appeal if the motion is granted against them.

Exemptions

Three kinds of claims fall outside the chapter no matter how speech-related they look: a claim against a government unit or its employee or agent acting in an official capacity; a claim brought BY a government unit or employee, in an official capacity, to enforce a law, rule, regulation, or ordinance protecting against an imminent threat to public health or safety; and a claim against someone primarily in the business of selling or leasing goods or services, when the claim arises from a communication (or lack of one) tied to that person's own sale or lease. That last, commercial-speech exemption doesn't reach the advertisement, creation, dissemination, or exhibition of an artistic, dramatic, journalistic, literary, musical, or political work, so media and creative content stay protected even when the speaker is in a "selling" business.

What trips people up

The enrolled act has no special application clause. The chapter took effect July 1, 2026, but § 15-40-3 measures its 60-day filing period from service of the pleading. The statute allows a later filing on good cause; it does not say that the effective date restarts an already-running service clock.

Only the movant gets an express appeal-as-of-right. If you're the plaintiff and the motion is granted against you, the statute doesn't spell out the same guaranteed immediate-appeal path that a losing defendant gets.

Common questions

Does this cover a lawsuit over a comment I made at a public hearing opposing a local zoning decision? Yes — that's a communication in or connected to a governmental proceeding, squarely within the statute's scope.

How long do I have to file the special motion? 60 days after you're served with the complaint or other pleading, unless the court allows a later filing for good cause.

If my motion is denied, do I have to wait until the whole case is over to appeal? No. You can appeal a full or partial denial as a matter of right, within 30 days, and that appeal keeps the discovery stay in place while it's pending.

Statutes and sources

• SDCL 15-40-1 — "the provisions of this chapter apply to a cause of action against a person based on the person's protected public expression... (3) Exercise of the person's right of freedom of speech or of the press, the right to assemble or petition, or the right of association... on a matter of public concern." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-1.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-2 — "The provisions of this chapter do not apply to a cause of action asserted: (1) Against a governmental unit or an employee or agent of a governmental unit acting or purporting to act in an official capacity... (3) Against a person primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or services, if the cause of action arises out of a communication or lack of communication related to the person's sale or lease of the goods or services." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-2.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-3 — "No later than sixty days after a party is served with a complaint... the party may file a special motion for expedited relief to dismiss the cause of action or part of the cause of action." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-3.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-4, 15-40-7, 15-40-8, and 15-40-10 — the automatic stay, limited-discovery exception, hearing deadline, summary-judgment-type record, and ruling deadline. Sources: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-4.html and the corresponding official section API pages (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-9 — "the court shall dismiss with prejudice a cause of action, or part of a cause of action, if... (3) Either: (a) The responding party fails to establish a prima facie case as to each essential element of the cause of action; or (b) The moving party establishes that... there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law..." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-9.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-11 — "A moving party may appeal as a matter of right from an order denying, in whole or in part, a motion under § 15-40-3. The appeal must be filed no later than thirty days after entry of the order." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-11.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL 15-40-12 — "The court shall award court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and reasonable litigation expenses related to a motion filed under § 15-40-3: (1) To the moving party, if the moving party prevails on the motion; or (2) To the responding party, if the responding party prevails on the motion and the court finds that the motion was frivolous or filed solely with intent to delay the proceeding." Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/15-40-12.html (accessed 2026-08-14).
• SDCL § 2-14-16 — the July 1 default effective date for a regular- session act that does not prescribe another date. Source: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/2-14-16.html (accessed 2026-08-14).