Volunteer screening in South Dakota: the complete guide
The statutes that apply, which of your volunteers they reach, which agency runs which check, what organizations here actually get wrong, and the order to do it in.
What makes South Dakota different
South Dakota’s state rap sheet is not a public record: criminal history information is exempt from open-records disclosure, and a person may authorize DCI to release their own record to an organization after a fingerprint-based request (SDCL 23-5-11, 23-5-12). Discharged suspended impositions of sentence are sealed, and petty offense, ordinance and Class 2 misdemeanor cases are removed from the public record after five clean years (SDCL 23A-27-17, 23A-3-34). Registered sex offenders must register where they volunteer for more than 14 days, or 30 days in a year (SDCL 22-24B-3), and since July 1, 2026 community safety zones include licensed and registered child care programs (SDCL 22-24B-22). DSS says South Dakota is not a National Fingerprint File or National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact state.
The short version: South Dakota has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen volunteers; its mandates are sector-specific. Any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to children in a licensed child welfare agency (day care centers, group family day care homes, before and after school programs, foster homes, group homes and residential treatment centers) must sign a DCI release and be fingerprinted for state and FBI checks within 14 days of starting (SDCL 26-6-14.4, 26-6-14.5). Child care checks repeat at least every five years (ARSD 67:42:17:13), group care centers and child placement agencies must clear volunteers against the child abuse and neglect central registry before they serve (ARSD 67:42:07:14, 67:42:09:09), and CASA programs and child advocacy centers must have volunteers screened against that registry (SDCL 26-8A-12.2). Accredited schools fingerprint the people they hire, but we found no statute requiring checks of unpaid school volunteers (SDCL 13-10-12), and we found no state FCRA analog.
The statutes, one at a time
These are the laws that create the obligation. Read the citation, not a summary of it, before you build a policy around it.
- 1
Criminal record checks in licensed child welfare agencies
SDCL 26-6-14.3 to 26-6-14.5, 26-6-14.10, 26-6-14.11
Applicants, administrators, adult residents, any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to children, and any adult working in a group home, residential treatment center or shelter care facility must sign the SDCL 23-5-12 waiver and be fingerprinted; the licensee sends the prints to the Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI within 14 calendar days. Anyone convicted of child abuse or a sex offense, convicted of any other felony within five years, or listed on the sex offender or child abuse central registry may not work or provide care there; doing so, or knowingly allowing it, is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
- 2
Child care background checks
ARSD 67:42:17:13 (effective July 3, 2023)
All child care providers, program employees age 14 and older and family day care household members age 18 and older must meet federal background check requirements, repeated at least once every five years. DSS says employees and volunteers of licensed child and school-age programs and registered family day care must be screened, and DSS pays the in-state and out-of-state fees.
- 3
Central registry screening of volunteers
SDCL 26-8A-12.2; ARSD 67:42:01:05.02, 67:42:07:14, 67:42:09:09
DSS compares the names of current or potential employees or volunteers of CASA programs, nationally accredited child advocacy centers, Department of Corrections juvenile programs and state adolescent treatment programs, and guardian ad litem candidates, against the child abuse and neglect central registry; written consent is required and refusing screening disqualifies the applicant. Group care centers and child placement agencies must screen each volunteer before the volunteer serves children, and a volunteer may not have a substantiated report.
- 4
School employee fingerprint checks
SDCL 13-10-12, 13-10-13 (amended by 2026 HB 1003)
Since July 1, 2026, each person over 18 hired by any accredited school, not only a public school district, submits to DCI and FBI fingerprint checks, with the cards sent to DCI before the person enters service, with temporary employment allowed pending results; student teachers are checked, and people hired to officiate or referee school events are exempt. We found no provision requiring checks of unpaid volunteers.
Which of your volunteers this reaches
Run your actual roster against this list. The roles below are where South Dakota's requirements apply; everyone else is a risk decision rather than a legal one.
- Any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to children in a licensed child welfare agency, such as a day care center, group family day care home, before and after school program, foster home, group home or residential treatment center (DCI and FBI fingerprint check within 14 days; SDCL 26-6-14.4(3), 26-6-14.5)
- Child care providers, program employees 14 and older and family day care household members 18 and older, including volunteers in licensed child and school-age programs and registered family day care (federal comprehensive check, repeated at least every five years; ARSD 67:42:17:13)
- Volunteers and volunteer applicants of group care centers and child placement agencies (central registry screening before serving children; ARSD 67:42:01:05.02, 67:42:07:14(7), 67:42:09:09(7)); residential treatment centers appear to have a parallel rule (ARSD 67:42:08:06, not retrieved)
- Current or potential volunteers of CASA programs and nationally accredited child advocacy centers, and guardian ad litem candidates in abuse and neglect cases (central registry screening with written consent; SDCL 26-8A-12.2)
- Persons over 18 hired by an accredited school, including paid coaches and student teachers (DCI and FBI fingerprint check; SDCL 13-10-12)
- Optional, not required: unpaid school volunteers, chaperones and volunteer coaches (we found no statute requiring checks; SDCL 13-10-12 reaches people hired by an accredited school)
- Optional, not required: volunteers in developmental disability, nursing facility and assisted living programs (we found no statute or rule requiring checks of volunteers; DHS requires provider policies on checks for employees who provide direct service, ARSD 46:11:04:15.02, and facilities may not knowingly employ anyone convicted of abusing another person, ARSD 44:70:04:03, 44:73:04:04)
- Optional, not required: summer and recreational camps, youth sports, churches, mentoring and other nonprofit volunteers (we found no statute requiring checks; camps designed primarily for character building or recreation are outside child welfare licensing, SDCL 26-6-27)
Which check, from which agency
South Dakota does not use one check for everything. These are the distinct instruments in play — they search different databases and are not interchangeable.
- South Dakota DCI fingerprint-based state criminal history check ($30; the FBI adds $20, paid together as $50, per Unified Judicial System instructions, Rev. 04/2026)
- FBI fingerprint-based national check submitted through DCI where a statute authorizes it (licensed child welfare agencies, DSS child care screening, accredited-school hires); we found no general channel for volunteer organizations
- DSS Central Registry for Child Abuse and Neglect screening (DSS pays for child care screening; DSS says a screening on its Permission to Screen form, the route it describes for interstate child care agency requests, is free and averages 5–7 business days)
- South Dakota and national (NCIC) sex offender registry checks (part of DSS child care screening)
- Out-of-state criminal, sex offender and child abuse registry checks for each state lived in during the past five years (child care; 45 C.F.R. 98.43)
Administered by: South Dakota Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Investigation, Identification Section (fingerprint-based state checks and FBI submissions); Department of Social Services, Office of Licensing and Accreditation (child care and child welfare agency screening) and Child Protection Services (central registry screening); accredited schools (employee checks under SDCL 13-10-12)
Typical processing: DSS says child care screening results typically take 1–2 weeks after fingerprints are received, and a central registry screening on its Permission to Screen form averages 5–7 business days; DCI turnaround could not be confirmed
What organizations in South Dakota get wrong
These are the specific, local mistakes — the exemption that gets misapplied, the second database nobody runs, the deadline that arrives before anyone has written a policy.
- 1
Licensed child care and child welfare agencies: have every adult volunteer who provides care and supervision sign the DCI waiver and be fingerprinted, and submit the prints to DCI and the FBI within 14 calendar days of the volunteer’s first day (SDCL 26-6-14.5); DSS requires the central registry result on file before contact with children.
- 2
Track the five-year recheck for child care staff and volunteers (ARSD 67:42:17:13); DSS says a prior screening carries over only if the person has been out of child care work for less than 180 days.
- 3
Group care centers and child placement agencies: check three unrelated references and clear each volunteer against the central registry before the volunteer serves children, and tell volunteers how to report abuse (ARSD 67:42:07:14, 67:42:09:09).
- 4
Since July 1, 2026, coaches of school activities are mandated reporters (SDCL 26-8A-3, 2026 HB 1187); reports go orally and immediately to the state’s attorney, DSS or law enforcement (SDCL 26-8A-8).
- 5
A South Dakota nonprofit corporation must adopt a written privacy protection policy, and give it to the volunteer, before asking a volunteer for a Social Security number (SDCL 47-22-74.1).
- 6
Tribal programs: since July 1, 2026, DCI may obtain national checks at the request of any Indian tribe for listed positions, including tribal child protection and youth program roles and tribal foster parents (SDCL 23-3-15.1).
The order to do it in
- 1
Write the policy before you screen anyone
Decide which roles require a check, who reviews a result, and who makes the final call — in writing, before you have a result to review. Deciding under pressure with a parent on the phone is how organizations end up with a decision they cannot defend. Our free policy generator will draft one you can edit.
- 2
Sort your roster by unsupervised access, not by job title
The statutes above turn on contact and supervision, not on what a role is called. A "greeter" who walks children to the restroom has unsupervised access; a "coach" who is never alone with anyone may not.
- 3
Match each role to the right instrument
Where South Dakota mandates a specific channel — fingerprint, a named registry, an agency portal — use that channel for that role. Use a broad multi-source check as the baseline for everyone else.
- 4
Collect consent correctly the first time
FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and a separate written authorization. Bundling either into a volunteer application or a waiver is the single most common compliance defect, and it is the one plaintiffs' lawyers look for.
- 5
Run the check, then follow adverse action if anything surfaces
Pre-adverse notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, a reasonable window to dispute, then the final notice. Build the waiting period into your start dates rather than discovering it under pressure.
- 6
Set a re-screen interval and let it run
A clearance describes the day it was run. Most organizations use one to two years; some insurers require annual for roles with unsupervised access to children.
Questions South Dakota organizations ask
Does South Dakota require background checks for all volunteers?
South Dakota has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen volunteers; its mandates are sector-specific. Any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to children in a licensed child welfare agency (day care centers, group family day care homes, before and after school programs, foster homes, group homes and residential treatment centers) must sign a DCI release and be fingerprinted for state and FBI checks within 14 days of starting (SDCL 26-6-14.4, 26-6-14.5). Child care checks repeat at least every five years (ARSD 67:42:17:13), group care centers and child placement agencies must clear volunteers against the child abuse and neglect central registry before they serve (ARSD 67:42:07:14, 67:42:09:09), and CASA programs and child advocacy centers must have volunteers screened against that registry (SDCL 26-8A-12.2). Accredited schools fingerprint the people they hire, but we found no statute requiring checks of unpaid school volunteers (SDCL 13-10-12), and we found no state FCRA analog.
Which of my volunteers does South Dakota law actually reach?
Based on the statutes cited on this page: Any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to children in a licensed child welfare agency, such as a day care center, group family day care home, before and after school program, foster home, group home or residential treatment center (DCI and FBI fingerprint check within 14 days; SDCL 26-6-14.4(3), 26-6-14.5); Child care providers, program employees 14 and older and family day care household members 18 and older, including volunteers in licensed child and school-age programs and registered family day care (federal comprehensive check, repeated at least every five years; ARSD 67:42:17:13); Volunteers and volunteer applicants of group care centers and child placement agencies (central registry screening before serving children; ARSD 67:42:01:05.02, 67:42:07:14(7), 67:42:09:09(7)); residential treatment centers appear to have a parallel rule (ARSD 67:42:08:06, not retrieved); Current or potential volunteers of CASA programs and nationally accredited child advocacy centers, and guardian ad litem candidates in abuse and neglect cases (central registry screening with written consent; SDCL 26-8A-12.2); Persons over 18 hired by an accredited school, including paid coaches and student teachers (DCI and FBI fingerprint check; SDCL 13-10-12); Optional, not required: unpaid school volunteers, chaperones and volunteer coaches (we found no statute requiring checks; SDCL 13-10-12 reaches people hired by an accredited school); Optional, not required: volunteers in developmental disability, nursing facility and assisted living programs (we found no statute or rule requiring checks of volunteers; DHS requires provider policies on checks for employees who provide direct service, ARSD 46:11:04:15.02, and facilities may not knowingly employ anyone convicted of abusing another person, ARSD 44:70:04:03, 44:73:04:04); Optional, not required: summer and recreational camps, youth sports, churches, mentoring and other nonprofit volunteers (we found no statute requiring checks; camps designed primarily for character building or recreation are outside child welfare licensing, SDCL 26-6-27). Those categories are where South Dakota's requirements bite. Volunteers outside them are a policy decision for your organization rather than a statutory one — which does not mean the answer is "skip it", only that the reason to screen is risk management rather than a citation.
Who administers the check in South Dakota?
South Dakota Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Investigation, Identification Section (fingerprint-based state checks and FBI submissions); Department of Social Services, Office of Licensing and Accreditation (child care and child welfare agency screening) and Child Protection Services (central registry screening); accredited schools (employee checks under SDCL 13-10-12). Typical processing is DSS says child care screening results typically take 1–2 weeks after fingerprints are received, and a central registry screening on its Permission to Screen form averages 5–7 business days; DCI turnaround could not be confirmed.
Does a VolunteerBadge check satisfy South Dakota's requirement?
It depends on what your state or licensor mandates, and we would rather be straight with you about it than sell past the question. Our $5 check is a broad multi-source criminal and sex-offender search from an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency — an excellent primary screen and, for many volunteer roles, the whole answer. It is not a fingerprint or live-scan check. Where South Dakota specifically mandates a fingerprint-based state or FBI channel for a role, that requirement stands on its own and our check supplements rather than replaces it.
We operate in more than one state. Whose rules apply?
Generally the rules of the state where the volunteer serves, not where your organization is incorporated. Organizations near a border routinely have volunteers under two different regimes at the same event. For South Dakota that most often means Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming. The practical approach is to screen to the strictest standard among the states you operate in, so one process covers all of them.
What happens if we run a check and find something?
That is where federal law takes over from state law. Running background checks makes you a user of consumer reports under the FCRA, so before you decline anyone based on the report you must send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, allow a reasonable window to dispute, and only then send the final notice. It is not optional, and it is the step organizations most often miss.
Operating across a South Dakota border?
Volunteers are generally governed by the state where they serve. If your programs cross a line, these are the neighbors you are most likely to need.
General information, not legal advice. We are a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. The statutes cited above are real and current as of August 21, 2026, but they are amended — and a citation is not a substitute for reading how it applies to your specific program. Confirm with South Dakota Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Investigation, Identification Section (fingerprint-based state checks and FBI submissions); Department of Social Services, Office of Licensing and Accreditation (child care and child welfare agency screening) and Child Protection Services (central registry screening); accredited schools (employee checks under SDCL 13-10-12), your licensor, your insurer, or your own counsel before relying on any of it. Spot an error? Tell us — we would rather fix it.
Screen your South Dakota volunteers for $5
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