South Dakota at a glance
Rules, not your dateChild sexual abuse: the civil deadline
Against the abuser: 3 years from the abuse or 3 years from discovery, whichever is later. Claims against a church, school or other entity follow the general 3-year injury period, with no discovery rule, and end at age 40 in any case. The rule is in S.D. Codified Laws § 26-10-25; § 15-2-14(3); Bernie v. Blue Cloud Abbey, 2012 S.D. 64.
That is the deadline for a civil lawsuit, a claim for money damages. A criminal prosecution runs on a separate clock set by the state’s criminal code, and a report to police can be made whether or not a civil claim is still open. How the two differ.
Adult sexual assault: the civil deadline
2 years for assault or battery claims. Other personal injury claims, such as negligence: 3 years. The rule is in S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-15(1); § 15-2-14(3).
Revival and lookback windows
South Dakota has not enacted a window that revives sexual abuse claims whose deadline had already passed.
A revival window, sometimes called a lookback window, lets survivors file claims that had already expired, for a set period. Closed windows stay listed here with their dates, because a claim filed while one was open may still be moving through the courts. Every state’s window, side by side.
Claims against public entities
Written notice within 180 days of the injury. For a minor, a court may allow later notice if asked within 2 years of the event. No sexual abuse exception. See S.D. Codified Laws §§ 3-21-2, 3-21-4.
A claim against a public body often needs a written notice filed with that body first, and the notice period can be far shorter than the deadline for the lawsuit itself.
Active lawsuits and institutions in South Dakota
- Roblox litigation: Attorney general action against Roblox, settled
The deadlines described here are general rules, and most of them have exceptions. The date that governs a particular claim turns on the state, the person’s age when the abuse happened, when they connected it to the harm it caused, and who the defendant is. A claim against a public agency or a public school can carry a written notice requirement that runs out long before the ordinary deadline.
Nothing on this page can tell you your own date. A lawyer who looks at your facts can, and there is no charge to ask.
- S.D. Codified Laws § 26-10-25; § 15-2-14(3); Bernie v. Blue Cloud Abbey, 2012 S.D. 64 (childhood claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-15(1); § 15-2-14(3) (adult claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- S.D. Codified Laws §§ 3-21-2, 3-21-4 (notice to public entities). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- CHILD USA, statute of limitations research (used as a cross-check, not as the source of any rule above).
