--- title: "South Dakota: AI rules for lawyers" url: "https://ailawframework.com/jurisdictions/south-dakota" type: "jurisdiction" site: "AI Law Framework" id: "US-SD" kind: "state" country: "US" parent: "United States" last_checked: "2026-10-31" as_of: "2026-10-31" last_reviewed: "2026-11-03" --- # South Dakota: AI rules for lawyers > South Dakota: court and regulator AI instruments and the tasks that change here. Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/jurisdictions/south-dakota Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt ## What this means for lawyers No South Dakota Supreme Court rule, circuit rule or State Bar ethics opinion on generative AI was found. Competence, confidentiality, candour to the tribunal and communication with the client still come from the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1.1, as published, is the general competence rule. The official text has no technology-competence comment and does not mention artificial intelligence. In the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, the civil local rules posted as current (Eighth Circuit Judicial Council order of 24 February 2025) and the criminal local-rules index do not contain an artificial-intelligence rule. A proposal dated 20 October 2025 (Civ. LR 7.2 and Crim. LR 12.2, identical text) would make the lawyer or self-represented party responsible for checking quotations, citations, paraphrases, analysis and drafting, whether or not AI helped, with sanctions in the judge's discretion. That text is still on the court site as a comment draft. It is absent from the rules posted as current. As at 31 October 2026. ## Telling the court and the client **Tell the court:** Unclear Court disclosure: no rule found for South Dakota state courts. The District of South Dakota local rules posted as current do not require disclosure of AI use. The 20 October 2025 proposal also does not require disclosure; it requires the filer to check accuracy. Client disclosure/consent: no rule found. - [South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1 (SDCL chapter 16-18, Appendix)](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/16-18-A) - [Public Notice of Proposed Rule Changes](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/news/public-notice-proposed-rule-changes) - [Civil Local Rules (final, approved), with Eighth Circuit Judicial Council order of 24 February 2025, and the civil and criminal rules indexes](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/sites/sdd/files/Civil%20Local%20Rules%20-%20final%2C%20approved.pdf) - [Ethics Opinions](https://www.statebarofsouthdakota.com/ethics-opinions/) **Tell the client:** No Same basis and sources as above. ## Last checked Last checked 31 October 2026. ## What changed in South Dakota in the last 12 months - 1 July 2026 · Dated: [SDCL 22-21-4 and 22-21-4.1: digitally fabricated intimate images (2026 Session Law chapter 104)](#ai-rule-jr-us-sd-fabricated-image) ## AI instruments ### Courts and tribunals #### Proposed Civ. LR 7.2 and Crim. LR 12.2 (artificial intelligence), published for comment 20 October 2025 - Type: Consultation, not in force · Consultation - Issuer: United States District Court for the District of South Dakota - Date on page: 20 October 2025 - Effective date: Not stated - Status: Consultation, not in force - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/news/public-notice-proposed-rule-changes On 20 October 2025 the district judges published, for comment until 19 December 2025, proposed Civ. LR 7.2 and Crim. LR 12.2 (both headed 'Artificial Intelligence'). The civil and criminal clean drafts use identical text: attorneys and pro se parties are responsible for personally reviewing and confirming the accuracy of their legal filings, including quotations, citations, paraphrased assertions, legal analysis and drafting, regardless of whether artificial intelligence assisted, and failure may trigger sanctions in the discretion of the presiding judge. The civil local rules posted as the current complete set (Eighth Circuit Judicial Council order of 24 February 2025), and the current civil and criminal rules indexes read on 31 October 2026, do not include those rules. The proposal does not require a party to tell the court that AI was used. Key points: - The duty in the draft is verification of the filing, not disclosure of the tool. - Comment closed on 19 December 2025. The December 2025 attorney newsletter does not mention the AI rules. The only later rule notice on the court's news pages (17 April 2026, repeated in the 8 May 2026 newsletter) proposes digital signatures in Civ. LR 5.1 and Crim. LR 49.1, not AI. - Current civil rules index: https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/LocalRulesCivil (jumps from LR 7.1.1 to LR 10.1; no LR 7.2). Current criminal index: https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/LocalRulesCriminal (LR 12.1 then LR 12.4; no LR 12.2). - Clean drafts read: https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/sites/sdd/files/Civil%20Local%20Rules%20-%2010.2025%20EDITS,%20Clean.pdf and https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/sites/sdd/files/Criminal%20Local%20Rules%20-%2010.2025%20Edits%2C%20clean.pdf - Draft Civ. LR 1.1(B): the rules 'become effective after the comment period expires and upon the placement on court's official website.' Adoption is not shown on the site as at 31 October 2026. #### South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1 (Competence) - Type: Court rule or order · Court rule - Issuer: Supreme Court of South Dakota (text published by the Legislative Research Council) - Date on page: Not stated - Effective date: Not stated - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/16-18-A Rule 1.1 requires a lawyer to provide competent representation, meaning the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. The official appendix, read on 31 October 2026, has no comment under Rule 1.1 and does not mention technology or artificial intelligence. The same page's preamble discusses comments in general, and other rules are followed by their text without a technology-competence comment. Key points: - The operative sentence is the general competence standard only. - A search of the appendix text found no match for 'technolog', 'artificial' or 'generative'. - The 1 July 2018 source line on the page is attached to Rule 1.0 (terminology, including electronic 'signed' writings), not to a technology comment on Rule 1.1. ### State bar and regulators #### Continuing education page: CLE is not required to keep a licence - Type: Law society or bar guidance · Bar guidance - Issuer: State Bar of South Dakota - Date on page: Not stated - Effective date: Not stated - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://www.statebarofsouthdakota.com/continuing-education/ The State Bar states that South Dakota does not require continuing legal education to maintain a licence to practise law. The page describes CLE as voluntary programming offered by the bar. It links SDCL 16-18-1.1, labelled as sexual-harassment prevention training for attorneys. Nothing on the page imposes a technology or AI education requirement. Key points: - There is no mandatory technology CLE for South Dakota lawyers on this page. - The sexual-harassment training link was not read as an AI rule. - The page does not adopt ABA Model Rule 1.1 comment 8. ### Legislation #### SDCL 22-21-4 and 22-21-4.1: digitally fabricated intimate images (2026 Session Law chapter 104) - Type: Legislation - Issuer: South Dakota Legislature - Date on page: 16 March 2026 - Effective date: 1 July 2026 - Status: 1 July 2026; start date not confirmed - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-21-4 SDCL 22-21-4, as amended by 2026 Session Law chapter 104, makes it a Class 5 felony to knowingly and intentionally create, disclose, disseminate, distribute or sell digitally fabricated material of an identifiable individual in a state of nudity, or engaging in specified sexual conduct, without that person's consent or knowledge and with an intent listed in the section. SDCL 22-21-4.1 defines "digitally fabricated material" as a visual depiction that appears authentic and is adapted, generated or modified to falsely depict appearance, conduct or voice. This is a criminal privacy statute. It does not regulate lawyers' use of AI in practice. Key points: - Definitions: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-21-4.1 . Source: SL 2026, ch 104, § 2. - Bill history: https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26753 . Enrolled text: https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/306427.pdf . - The offence requires the intents set out in the section, including self-gratification, harassment, invasion of privacy or listed harms. - Effective date follows SDCL 2-14-16 because the enrolled act prescribes none. #### SDCL 12-26-32 to 12-26-37: election deepfakes (2025 Session Law chapter 68) - Type: Legislation - Issuer: South Dakota Legislature - Date on page: 25 March 2025 - Effective date: 1 July 2025 - Status: 1 July 2025; start date not confirmed - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/Session_Laws/Chapter/8277 Chapter 68 of the 2025 session laws, Senate Bill 164 (approved 25 March 2025), adds SDCL 12-26-32 to 12-26-37. A person who, with intent to injure a candidate, disseminates a deepfake (or contracts to do so) within 90 days of an election, knowing or reasonably should know that it is a deepfake, and without the statutory disclosure, commits a Class 1 misdemeanor. The Act also lets the Attorney General, the injured candidate or the depicted individual seek an injunction, and makes the disseminator liable to the candidate and depicted individual for damages, costs and attorney fees (knowing use to be proved by clear and convincing evidence). The affirmative-defence disclosure must read: "This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence." The act binds any person who disseminates the material. It does not regulate how lawyers use AI in legal work. Key points: - Codified text: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/12-26-32 , https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/12-26-33 and https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/12-26-37 . Source: SL 2025, ch 68. - Bill history: https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26046 records 'Signed by the Governor' dated 25 March 2025. The enrolled text has six sections and no effective-date section. - "Artificial intelligence" and "deepfake" are defined in SDCL 12-26-32. - Image and video disclosures must be easily readable and no smaller than the largest other text, and superimposed on each deepfake. Audio disclosures must be spoken at the beginning and end. - Effective-date rule: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/2-14-16 . #### SDCL 22-24A-2(5): computer-generated child pornography, including AI depictions - Type: Legislation - Issuer: South Dakota Legislature - Date on page: Not stated - Effective date: Not stated - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-24A-2 SDCL 22-24A-2(5) defines "computer-generated child pornography" to include a visual depiction of an actual minor, or of an actual adult modified to appear as a minor, engaged in a prohibited sexual act, and a depiction of an individual indistinguishable from an actual minor created by artificial intelligence or other computer technology. This is a criminal definition used in the child-pornography statutes. It is not a rule about lawyers' use of AI in legal work. The effective date of the 2024 amendment was not confirmed from the session law. Key points: - The AI limb is subdivision (5)(c): an individual indistinguishable from an actual minor, created by artificial intelligence or similar computer technology. - Source line on the page: SL 2002, ch 109, § 6; later amendments; SL 2024, ch 87, § 1. - Do not treat the absence of a date on this record as a finding that the definition is not in force. The text is in the codified laws. ### Government and other bodies #### State of South Dakota Generative Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy - Type: Government policy or guidance · Government guidance - Issuer: Bureau of Human Resources and Administration, State of South Dakota - Date on page: 4 September 2026 - Effective date: Not stated - Status: 2026-09-04; start date not confirmed - Last checked 31 October 2026 - URL: https://www.sd.gov/bhra?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0044679 This is an employment policy for people who do the State's work, not a rule for private law firms. It covers executive-branch employees under the Governor, employees of elected offices who use BIT systems, employees and board or commission members of legal entities under the Governor, volunteers granted access to the State's IT infrastructure, and contractors who are bound by contract. A covered person may use a generative AI tool only if BIT has approved that tool and both agency leadership and BIT have approved the person's access. Output must be reviewed for accuracy before it is relied on, and it is not a substitute for professional judgement. Use to mislead can lead to discipline, including termination. Key points: - State accounts must be used for work. Sensitive or confidential data may go into a tool only if that tool is designated for it on the allowed-software list. - The BIT standards page now points readers to this policy and, on the text retrieved, adds no separate rule. - The eligibility list does not name private law firms or the Unified Judicial System. - The BIT prohibited-technology page lists Deepseek among applications barred for state government: https://www.sd.gov/bit?id=bit_prohibited_technology ## Sources 23 sources, each with its issuer and the date it was last checked. - United States District Court for the District of South Dakota: [Proposed Civ. LR 7.2 and Crim. LR 12.2 (artificial intelligence), published for comment 20 October 2025](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/news/public-notice-proposed-rule-changes) · last checked 31 October 2026 - Supreme Court of South Dakota (text published by the Legislative Research Council): [South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1 (Competence)](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/16-18-A) · last checked 31 October 2026 - State Bar of South Dakota: [Continuing education page: CLE is not required to keep a licence](https://www.statebarofsouthdakota.com/continuing-education/) · last checked 31 October 2026 - South Dakota Legislature: [SDCL 22-21-4 and 22-21-4.1: digitally fabricated intimate images (2026 Session Law chapter 104)](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-21-4) · last checked 31 October 2026 - South Dakota Legislature: [SDCL 12-26-32 to 12-26-37: election deepfakes (2025 Session Law chapter 68)](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/Session_Laws/Chapter/8277) · last checked 31 October 2026 - South Dakota Legislature: [SDCL 22-24A-2(5): computer-generated child pornography, including AI depictions](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-24A-2) · last checked 31 October 2026 - Bureau of Human Resources and Administration, State of South Dakota: [State of South Dakota Generative Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy](https://www.sd.gov/bhra?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0044679) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [Civil Local Rules (final, approved), with Eighth Circuit Judicial Council order of 24 February 2025, and the civil and criminal rules indexes](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/sites/sdd/files/Civil%20Local%20Rules%20-%20final%2C%20approved.pdf) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [Ethics Opinions](https://www.statebarofsouthdakota.com/ethics-opinions/) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/sites/sdd/files/Civil%20Local%20Rules%20-%2010.2025%20EDITS,%20Clean.pdf) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/12-26-33) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Unified Judicial System](https://ujs.sd.gov/) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [slide deck hosted by the Unified Judicial System (National Center for State Courts, MINKS)](https://ujs.sd.gov/media/lfrixn5v/ai-intelligence-in-state-courts.pdf) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Unified Judicial System](https://ujs.sd.gov/ujs-news/celebrate-2025-court-reporting-and-captioning-week/) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota](https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/content/attorney-newsletter-december-2025) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/2-14-16) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26753) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26539) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26549) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26550) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26551) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [South Dakota Legislature](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26480) · last checked 31 October 2026 - [Bureau of Information and Telecommunications](https://www.sd.gov/bit?id=bit_standards_ai_guidance) · last checked 31 October 2026 ## Key facts - Kind: State - Task versions written for this jurisdiction: 0 - AI instruments recorded: 7 *Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*