fallriver, Author at Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota

After discussion at the Fall River County Commissioner Meeting yesterday it was decided that the Fall River/Oglala Lakota County Courthouse will continue business as usual, mostly. The Fall River County Jail has suspended inmate visitation. This is the only currently suspended service. The courthouse has put additional cleaning and disinfecting procedures in place to protect our employees, inmates, and the public.

Although we are not changing our hours of operation, we are asking the public’s help in easing the current situation. Many of our courthouse services are available online or through phone, email or regular mail. We are asking the public to make use of these resources and not to physically visit the courthouse.

If you feel a visit is necessary please call first, it may be possible to have some items completed over the phone and have others ready for you when you arrive thus minimizing the amount of time you need to spend in the courthouse.

We hope to balance the need for social distancing with the need for continuing county services.

Below is a list of services available online or by phone.

Assessment Appeal

Review Property: Call or email the Director of Equalization’s office, 605-745-5136 [email protected] , for options in having your property reviewed if you have issues with the assessed value. Assessors can answer questions via the phone and send information and comparable sales for your property via email or regular mail.

File Appeal: Appeals for the Consolidated Board are due April 7^th and can be mailed to:

Fall River/Oglala Lakota County
Attn: DOE
1029 N River St
Hot Springs, SD 57747

Appeal forms are available here or can be emailed or mailed to you from the Director of Equalization’s Office, 605-745-5136, [email protected]

Birth, Marriage, Death Certificates

Obtain Record: You can call for vital records, Register of Deeds 605-745-5139

Commissioner Information/Agenda/Meeting Videos

Agenda items: If you would like to add any agenda items for discussion, please email – [email protected] or call the Auditor’s office @ 605-745-5130.

Meeting Information: Agendas and information packets for future meetings; minutes and videos of past meetings are available on the official Oglala Lakota County Website oglalalakota.sdcounties.org

If you have any issues accessing or navigating our website, please call us at 605-745-5130.

Court

The Office of the State’s Attorney will be closed to the general public for in office meetings, but will be available by phone, 605-745-3866, and email [email protected] concerning ongoing cases or other matters that need to be brought to my attention. Any criminal defendants with attorneys must go through their attorneys as the State’s Attorney office is not allowed to speak with defendants represented by attorneys.

The State’s Attorney cannot give legal advice to the public regarding private legal matters and the public is encouraged to speak to a private attorney about those matters.

All questions regarding court schedules and court appointed attorneys should be directed to the Clerk of Courts, 605-745-5131.

Land & Deed Research

The Registrar will conduct simple land and deed lookups as time allows. Please call the Register of Deeds at 605-745-5139 or email [email protected] to see if your research needs qualify as ‘simple’.

Owner Occupied

Owner-occupied forms can be mailed or emailed to you at your request and must be returned or postmarked by March 15. Call the Director of Equalization’s office, 605-745-5136 or email: [email protected] to begin the process.

Mail to:

Fall River/Oglala Lakota County
Attn: DOE
1029 N River St
Hot Springs, SD 57747

Taxes

Payment: Property Taxes can be paid over the phone with a credit card or payment can be sent by check through the mail. Contact the Treasurer’s office with any questions: 605-745-5145 or [email protected]

Look-up: Property taxes can be looked up online here. Follow the step-by-step directions at the top of the screen exactly as the site can be a little touchy. You can also contact the treasurer’s office at 605-745-5145 or [email protected]

Tax Freeze

Applications for the Elderly & Disabled Tax Freeze can be mailed to the Treasurer at:

Fall River/Oglala Lakota County
Attn: Treasurer
906 N River St
Hot Springs, SD 57747

or emailed to [email protected]
or faxed to 605-745-3530

Vehicles

Title Transfer: Call the treasurer to find out the cost and where to fill out the information. Option 1: Mail-in paperwork and check. Option 2: Mail paperwork without check and the treasurer’s office can call when the mail arrives and take payment over the phone via credit card. License plates will be mailed.

Registration Renewals: There are several options for registration renewals.

Online renewals are available through the State system: www.sdcars.org These must be done between 30-90 days before the registration expires.

There is a self-service terminal located in the Rapid City Rushmore Mall.

Via phone or email with the Treasurer’s office: 605-745-5145 [email protected]

Voting & Elections

Voter Registration & Absentee Voting:

The South Dakota Secretary of State’s website has downloadable Voter Registration forms and absentee application forms as well as information about petition questions and a portal to check the current status of voter registrations – www.sdsos.gov

Those needing help to walk through these processes they can call our office at 605-745-5130 or email [email protected]

Please mail voter registration forms and/or absentee ballot requests to:

Fall River/Oglala Lakota County Auditor
906 N River St
Hot Springs, SD 57747

Candidates & Petitions:

Information can be found on the Secretary of State’s website: www.sdsos.gov

Petition questions and/or assistance with petitions –

Call the Auditor’s office directly at 605-745-5130 or email [email protected]

Oglala Lakota County assessment notices were mailed on Friday, February 28th. Residents of Oglala Lakota County should expect to see their assessment notice arrive this week. If you do not receive your notice please contact the Director of Equalization’s office at 605-745-5136 or [email protected] .

Things to check on your assessment notice:

Value – the value should indicate what your property would sell for on the open market. If you feel this number does not represent your properties value you have a short window of time to appeal this value. Check out the Appeal Deadline page and contact the Director of Equalization’s office at the contact information above.
Class – There are three properties classes in South Dakota: OO – owner occupied (this is for your primary residence), AG – agricultural properties, NA – non-agricultural properties (this includes everything else including commercial). The class code shows up between the school district and acre/lot information.
Name, Legal, Acreage – Particularly if there have been changes such as sales or new plats on your property this year it is a good idea to check the basic information on the assessment notice to insure that no typos have been made along with the changes.

If any of the above information needs correction or if you have questions please contact the Director of Equalization’s office at 605-745-5136 or [email protected]

Remember that it is not possible to appeal your taxes, only your assessment value can be appealed. When the tax bill is published next January for these values it will be too late to make corrections to values.

“No Change to Election Dates, Consider Absentee Voting”

Courthouse – Open; But We’d Prefer You Call