Which South Dakota volunteers does the law require to be checked?

Not across the board. Nothing in the SDCL chapters we searched makes screening a duty for every nonprofit. Checks are required in particular settings: licensed child welfare agencies (SDCL 26-6-14.4 names “any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to the children”), child care under ARSD 67:42:17:13, programs that must have DSS screen volunteers against the central registry — CASA programs, accredited child advocacy centers, group care centers and child placement agencies — and people hired by accredited schools. Recreational camps, youth sports, churches and co-ops set their own standard.

Does a South Dakota day care volunteer have to be fingerprinted?

In licensed and registered child care, yes. An adult volunteer who provides care and supervision in a licensed child welfare agency signs a § 23-5-12 waiver and is fingerprinted, with the prints sent to DCI and the FBI within 14 calendar days. DSS’s child care screening also covers employees and volunteers of licensed programs and registered family day care: state and FBI fingerprints, sex-offender searches and child abuse registries for every state lived in for five years, at DSS’s expense and at least every five years. The central registry result must be on file before contact with children; the other results may follow while the person is supervised by someone fully cleared.

Which South Dakota volunteers must report child abuse, and how fast?

Some are. SDCL 26-8A-3 names employees and volunteers of a domestic abuse shelter, a child advocacy organization or a child welfare service provider, and since July 1, 2026, a coach of a school activity. They must report reasonable cause to suspect that a child under 18 has been abused or neglected, orally and immediately, to the state’s attorney, DSS or law enforcement; intentional failure is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Anyone else may report, and good-faith reporters are immune from civil and criminal liability.

How does a South Dakota volunteer get their DCI record to us?

Through the volunteer. DCI’s criminal history files are exempt from open-records disclosure, but under SDCL 23-5-12 a person may request their own record with fingerprints and authorize its release to an organization. The Unified Judicial System’s instructions list $30 for DCI and $20 for the FBI, paid together as $50. We found no South Dakota statute setting up a volunteer-organization channel for FBI checks, so ask DCI before promising volunteers one.

Do South Dakota schools have to check volunteers?

We found no statute requiring it. SDCL 13-10-12 requires DCI and FBI fingerprint checks of each person over 18 hired by an accredited school — every accredited school since July 1, 2026, public or nonpublic — and of student teachers. Unpaid volunteers and chaperones are screened under each school’s own policy.

Can a VolunteerBadge check stand in for DCI prints or DSS registry screening?

No. It never replaces or counts toward DCI and FBI fingerprint checks in licensed child welfare agencies under SDCL 26-6-14.4 to 14.5, DSS child care or central registry screening, or an accredited school’s checks under SDCL 13-10-12. It is for the many roles no South Dakota law covers, and can sit alongside the checks the law requires.

Free guide · 2026 edition · The waiver, the prints and the central registry in South Dakota

Signed and Printed: The South Dakota guide to screening volunteers: the fingerprint rule for licensed child welfare agencies, DSS child care and central registry screening, school checks after 2026, DCI records and the volunteers the law makes report

South Dakota has no statute that makes nonprofits in general screen their volunteers. It writes the duty into particular settings — licensed child care and child welfare agencies, programs that clear volunteers against DSS’s central registry, and accredited schools’ hires — and in the child welfare and registry settings the check starts with the volunteer’s own signature: a § 23-5-12 waiver or a written consent. Here is each rule, section by section.

By the VolunteerBadge research team · Sources checked September 12, 2026

Written for South Dakota nonprofits that use volunteers
The “including a volunteer” fingerprint rule for licensed child welfare agencies, clause by clause
DSS child care and central registry screening, school checks after H.B. 1003, and what a DCI record leaves out
A volunteer reporting card and an SSN privacy policy outline you can adapt

Who Signed and Printed is for

Executive directors, volunteer coordinators, child care and after-school directors, group home and placement agency staff, CASA and child advocacy center coordinators, school, booster and league leaders, and camp, church and senior-program organizers — anyone in South Dakota who recruits volunteers and wants to know exactly what the law asks of them.

1,679

South Dakota children were victims of abuse or neglect in federal fiscal year 2024 — 7.6 per 1,000 children against 7.2 nationally, and up 6.9% since 2020 while the national count fell 14.1%.

ACF, Child Maltreatment 2024

37.8%

of South Dakotans volunteered through an organization in 2023 — sixth among the 50 states.

VolunteerBadge analysis of AmeriCorps CEV 2023

14 days

The time a licensed child welfare agency has to send a new volunteer’s fingerprints to DCI and the FBI, counted from the volunteer’s first presence.

SDCL 26-6-14.5

Cited to primary sources

South Dakota at a glance

Settings, not a statewide rule: Nothing in the SDCL chapters we searched makes screening a duty for every nonprofit. Required checks attach to licensed child welfare agencies, child care, programs DSS screens against its central registry, and people hired by accredited schools.; SDCL 26-6-14.4, 26-8A-12.2, 13-10-12; ARSD 67:42:17:13
Volunteers in licensed child welfare agencies: Any adult, “including a volunteer,” who provides care and supervision to the children signs the § 23-5-12 waiver and a sworn declaration and is fingerprinted; the licensee sends the prints to DCI and the FBI within 14 calendar days. Knowingly letting a barred person work or provide care there is a Class 1 misdemeanor.; SDCL 26-6-14.4(3), 26-6-14.5, 26-6-14.11
Child care: DSS screening: Providers, program employees 14 and older and household members 18 and older must meet federal background check requirements, at least every five years; DSS pays the fees. The central registry result must be on file before contact with children, and the other results may follow under a fully cleared supervisor.; ARSD 67:42:17:13 (eff. July 3, 2023); DSS Background Checks page
Registry screening before service: CASA programs, accredited child advocacy centers and DOC and state adolescent treatment programs send employee and volunteer names to DSS for a central registry check, with written consent; refusal disqualifies. Group care centers and placement agencies also check three unrelated references before a volunteer serves.; SDCL 26-8A-12.2; ARSD 67:42:07:14, 67:42:09:09
Accredited schools since July 1, 2026: Each person over 18 hired by an accredited school, public or nonpublic, is fingerprinted through DCI and the FBI, with cards sent before the person enters service. We found no statute requiring checks of unpaid school volunteers.; SDCL 13-10-12, as amended by 2026 H.B. 1003
Volunteers on the reporter list: Employees and volunteers of domestic abuse shelters, child advocacy organizations and child welfare service providers — and, since July 1, 2026, coaches of school activities — must report reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect orally and immediately to the state’s attorney, DSS or law enforcement.; SDCL 26-8A-3, 26-8A-8; 2026 H.B. 1187
The record is the person’s own: DCI criminal history is exempt from open-records disclosure; a person may examine their own record on a fingerprint-based request and authorize its release to an organization. The UJS instructions list $30 for DCI and $20 for the FBI.; SDCL 23-5-11, 23-5-12; UJS instructions (Rev. 04/2026)
Volunteering counts as registry “work”: A registrant who volunteers for more than 14 days, or more than 30 days in a year, must register in that county, and the 500-foot community safety zones have covered licensed and registered child care since July 1, 2026.; SDCL 22-24B-2, 22-24B-3, 22-24B-22; 2026 S.B. 107
An SSN privacy policy comes first: Before a nonprofit corporation asks a volunteer for a Social Security number, it must adopt a written privacy protection policy, give it to that volunteer and make it available in print on request.; SDCL 47-22-74.1

From the Signed and Printed executive summary

Where South Dakota writes the duty in

1
The duty follows the setting.
We found no statute requiring South Dakota nonprofits in general to check volunteers. Required checks attach to licensed child welfare agencies, child care, the programs DSS screens against its central registry, and people hired by accredited schools.
2
Licensed child welfare agencies name volunteers.
Any adult, “including a volunteer,” who provides care and supervision to the children signs a § 23-5-12 waiver and a sworn declaration and is fingerprinted; the licensee sends the prints to DCI and the FBI within 14 calendar days.
3
DSS runs child care screening.
State and FBI fingerprints, sex-offender searches and child abuse registries for every state lived in for five years, paid for by DSS and repeated at least every five years. The registry result must be on file before contact; the rest may follow under a fully cleared supervisor.
4
Some programs clear volunteers against the registry.
CASA programs and accredited child advocacy centers send volunteers’ names to DSS for a central registry check, with written consent, and refusing the screening disqualifies the applicant. Group care centers and child placement agencies must clear each volunteer against the registry, and check three unrelated references, before the volunteer serves.
5
The reporter list names volunteers — and now school coaches.
Employees and volunteers of domestic abuse shelters, child advocacy organizations and child welfare service providers — and, since July 1, 2026, coaches of school activities — must report orally and immediately to the state’s attorney, DSS or law enforcement.
6
The state record belongs to the person.
DCI’s criminal history files are closed to public inspection. A person may see their own record on a fingerprint-based request and authorize its release to an organization; the UJS instructions list $30 for DCI and $20 for the FBI.

Inside Signed and Printed, chapter by chapter

01
It starts with the volunteer’s signature
No general mandate, the settings that carry one, and South Dakota’s maltreatment and volunteering figures.
02
Eight rows, from “including a volunteer”
Eight rows, from “including a volunteer” to the camps, leagues and churches no statute names.
03
“Including a volunteer”: licensed child welfare agencies
SDCL 26-6-14.4 and 14.5: the waiver, the sworn declaration and prints within 14 days.
04
Child care: the 2023 rule and DSS screening
ARSD 67:42:17:13, what DSS searches, the supervised start and the clocks.
05
The central registry: CASA, advocacy centers and group care
SDCL 26-8A-12.2, registry screening before service and the reference rule.
06
Schools, camps, sports and churches
Accredited-school fingerprinting after H.B. 1003, and where the law is silent.
07
Adult care: employees and caretakers
Employee-side rules, the caretaker definition and adult abuse reporting.
08
Reporting: a list that names volunteers
SDCL 26-8A-3 and 26-8A-8: who reports, how, and the 2026 coaching entry.
09
Getting a South Dakota record
Closed DCI files, the § 23-5-12 self-request, fees and tribal checks.
10
Expungement, suspended sentences, removal
Expungement, suspended impositions of sentence and automatic removal.
11
Registrants: volunteering as work, and 500 feet
Registration where registrants volunteer, and the 2024 and 2026 safety zones.
12
Running the program: SSNs, liability and fundraising
The SSN privacy policy, the FCRA, volunteer immunity, annual reports and raffles.
13
Since 2023, from ARSD 67:42:17 on
A dated timeline of the acts and rules that matter.
14
Beside DCI prints and DSS letters
Beside DCI prints and DSS registry letters, never in their place — setting by setting.
A
Appendix A: Child welfare, child care and schools
Groundwork, child welfare agencies, child care, registry programs and schools.
B
Appendix B: A reporting card and an SSN privacy policy outline
A § 26-8A-3 card for volunteers and a § 47-22-74.1 policy skeleton to adapt.
C
Appendix C: Each SDCL and ARSD section we read
Related guides, each SDCL and ARSD section we read, and the DCI pages that never answered.

Get the free guide

Signed and Printed: South Dakota questions answered

Which South Dakota volunteers does the law require to be checked?: Not across the board. Nothing in the SDCL chapters we searched makes screening a duty for every nonprofit. Checks are required in particular settings: licensed child welfare agencies (SDCL 26-6-14.4 names “any adult, including a volunteer, who provides care and supervision to the children”), child care under ARSD 67:42:17:13, programs that must have DSS screen volunteers against the central registry — CASA programs, accredited child advocacy centers, group care centers and child placement agencies — and people hired by accredited schools. Recreational camps, youth sports, churches and co-ops set their own standard.
Does a South Dakota day care volunteer have to be fingerprinted?: In licensed and registered child care, yes. An adult volunteer who provides care and supervision in a licensed child welfare agency signs a § 23-5-12 waiver and is fingerprinted, with the prints sent to DCI and the FBI within 14 calendar days. DSS’s child care screening also covers employees and volunteers of licensed programs and registered family day care: state and FBI fingerprints, sex-offender searches and child abuse registries for every state lived in for five years, at DSS’s expense and at least every five years. The central registry result must be on file before contact with children; the other results may follow while the person is supervised by someone fully cleared.
Which South Dakota volunteers must report child abuse, and how fast?: Some are. SDCL 26-8A-3 names employees and volunteers of a domestic abuse shelter, a child advocacy organization or a child welfare service provider, and since July 1, 2026, a coach of a school activity. They must report reasonable cause to suspect that a child under 18 has been abused or neglected, orally and immediately, to the state’s attorney, DSS or law enforcement; intentional failure is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Anyone else may report, and good-faith reporters are immune from civil and criminal liability.
How does a South Dakota volunteer get their DCI record to us?: Through the volunteer. DCI’s criminal history files are exempt from open-records disclosure, but under SDCL 23-5-12 a person may request their own record with fingerprints and authorize its release to an organization. The Unified Judicial System’s instructions list $30 for DCI and $20 for the FBI, paid together as $50. We found no South Dakota statute setting up a volunteer-organization channel for FBI checks, so ask DCI before promising volunteers one.
Do South Dakota schools have to check volunteers?: We found no statute requiring it. SDCL 13-10-12 requires DCI and FBI fingerprint checks of each person over 18 hired by an accredited school — every accredited school since July 1, 2026, public or nonpublic — and of student teachers. Unpaid volunteers and chaperones are screened under each school’s own policy.
Can a VolunteerBadge check stand in for DCI prints or DSS registry screening?: No. It never replaces or counts toward DCI and FBI fingerprint checks in licensed child welfare agencies under SDCL 26-6-14.4 to 14.5, DSS child care or central registry screening, or an accredited school’s checks under SDCL 13-10-12. It is for the many roles no South Dakota law covers, and can sit alongside the checks the law requires.

Beyond Signed and Printed

The South Dakota sources behind Signed and Printed

Checked September 12, 2026. The guide cites each one where it is used.

General information, not legal advice. Laws and agency practice change. Confirm anything you rely on with the agencies named here, your licensor, your insurer or qualified counsel. Spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it.

VolunteerBadge is owned and operated by ScreenForge Labs, LLC, an FCRA-regulated Consumer Reporting Agency that has obtained its FCRA Certificate from the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). This guide is general educational information and is not legal advice. Laws change; this guide's sources were checked as of September 12, 2026.