South Dakota: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

South Dakota has an anti-SLAPP law, but it's brand new — its first ever.
Before July 1, 2026, South Dakota had no anti-SLAPP protection at all. The
2026 legislature enacted the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act
(UPEPA), now SDCL Chapter 15-40, and it took effect on the state's
standard date for new laws without an emergency clause. A defendant sued
over a communication in a government proceeding or over speech, press,
petition, or association activity on a matter of public concern can file
a special motion for expedited relief within 60 days of being served.
Filing the motion automatically pauses discovery. The court must dismiss
the claim with prejudice unless the plaintiff can show a real case on
every element, or the defendant separately proves the claim fails as a
matter of law. A prevailing defendant gets mandatory fees, and a
defendant who loses the motion can appeal immediately, as a matter of
right, within 30 days.

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). The Governor
signed it in March 2026, and it took effect July 1, 2026 — South
Dakota's standard effective date for a new law that doesn't carry an
emergency clause. There was no earlier South Dakota anti-SLAPP statute
of any kind; this is an entirely new chapter, not a replacement for
something older.

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

This law only took effect July 1, 2026 — very recently. A lawsuit
filed or a claim asserted before that date isn't covered by this
chapter, since South Dakota had no anti-SLAPP protection at all before
then.

There's essentially no South Dakota case law yet interpreting this
statute. Because it's brand new, courts haven't had the chance to
apply its burden-of-proof language to real disputes yet — expect that to
develop over the next few years.

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
  2026-07-05).
• 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
  2026-07-05).
• 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
  2026-07-05).
• 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
  2026-07-05).
• 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 2026-07-05).
• 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 2026-07-05).