Weird Laws in South Dakota

During the mid-20th century, traveling carnivals sometimes featured 'wrestling bears' that locals could fight for a cash prize. Recognizing the extreme danger to intoxicated humans and the inherent cruelty to the defanged and declawed bears, the state officially outlawed the sport. Now, South Dakotans must find other ways to prove their physical dominance.

An old censorship law still on the books technically forbids the screening of any film that depicts law enforcement being treated offensively or violently. Passed during the early days of cinema to prevent the inspiration of anti-police sentiment, this law would technically outlaw almost every modern action movie. Fortunately, the First Amendment keeps the local multiplex safe from prosecution.

South Dakota takes its dairy hygiene very seriously. To prevent contamination of cheese curds by snoring, drooling, or otherwise unsanitary nappers, lawmakers made it a misdemeanor to catch some shut-eye on the factory floor. The law stems from early 1900s food safety regulations when laborers lived practically on-site.

In the sprawling, empty roads of the state, bored travelers and hunters sometimes used stop signs as convenient targets for sighting their rifles. The state had to explicitly codify that shooting at traffic signs is illegal vandalism. Those bullet-riddled speed limit signs along rural highways are a testament to why the law was needed.

While South Dakota is proud of its equestrian heritage, bringing your steed indoors is where the state draws the line. This law was drafted when travelers on horseback would try to bring their animals into their rooms during harsh winter blizzards to keep them from freezing. Now, it just prevents overzealous tourists from sneaking ponies into the Holiday Inn.

Buying a horse at night was long considered an easy way to get scammed by a rustler trying to offload stolen property. To curb horse theft, lawmakers required that all equine sales happen during daylight hours so the buyer could clearly see the brand marks and the animal's health. Nocturnal horse trading remains highly suspicious.

Sunflowers are a massive cash crop in South Dakota, and dry sunflower stalks are incredibly flammable. To prevent catastrophic agricultural fires, lawmakers specifically banned the discharge of pyrotechnics within these fields. It turns out that Roman candles and millions of dollars of dry seeds are a terrible combination.

In the city of Huron, creating excessive static electricity that disrupts radio signals is strictly forbidden. This likely dates back to the Golden Age of Radio, when poorly shielded motors or early electrical appliances would ruin the evening broadcast for the whole neighborhood. Today, it technically makes scuffing your socks on a carpet a risky endeavor.

Old municipal codes suggest that pacing continuously in a rented room is considered a public nuisance. It was likely passed to prevent noisy guests from disturbing the people sleeping in the room below them in poorly insulated wooden boarding houses. Insomniacs in Sioux Falls are advised to sit still.

Under city ordinances regarding 'missiles', throwing any object—including a densely packed snowball—on public streets or sidewalks is technically forbidden. The law aims to prevent property damage and accidental injuries from ice chunks hitting unsuspecting pedestrians or passing cars. Friendly winter warfare must be kept strictly to private backyards.

Early automobiles shared the unpaved roads with horse-drawn wagons and livestock drives. Some motorists thought it was amusing to spook the animals with their loud, backfiring engines. The state made it a crime to maliciously frighten an animal with a motor vehicle to prevent runaway carriages and scattered herds.

Dropping a stick of TNT into a lake might be a highly effective way to bring fish to the surface, but the state frowns upon it. This environmental protection law was enacted to stop lazy, destructive fishermen from obliterating entire aquatic ecosystems just to get a quick catch. Traditional fishing poles are highly encouraged instead.

Like many dairy-heavy states, South Dakota fiercely protected its butter industry from the rise of cheaper margarine. Old statutes mandated that restaurants serving margarine had to display a large sign notifying patrons, or else dye the margarine an unappetizing color. This was meant to stop sneaky diners from passing off the fake stuff as real cow's butter.

South Dakota is one of the few places where 'alienation of affection' and related heart-balm torts have lingering legal footprints. Historically, if a man promised to marry a woman and then backed out, she could sue him for the financial and social damages caused by the broken engagement. While rarely enforced today, it makes getting down on one knee a legally binding verbal contract.

To combat teenage loitering and traffic congestion on Friday nights, Mitchell enacted an anti-cruising ordinance. Teens driving their cars in endless loops past the Corn Palace to show off or socialize can be ticketed. The town prefers its traffic to actually go somewhere rather than just doing laps.

Given its wild west history, Deadwood has incredibly specific gaming and liquor ordinances. One such rule regulates the exact proximity of open liquor bottles to sanctioned poker tables. It was meant to keep the town's historical reenactment casinos from turning back into the actual lawless saloons of the 1870s.

In Aberdeen, charging patrons to read their palms, cast tarot cards, or consult a crystal ball is prohibited by local ordinance. This was part of a broader early-20th-century crackdown on 'vagrants' and scammers who traveled through Midwestern railway hubs. If you want to know the future in Aberdeen, you'll have to rely on the local weather forecast instead.

Even if no swords are drawn or pistols fired, merely issuing the challenge for a duel is a criminal offense in South Dakota. This law dates back to the territory days when settling disputes with lethal force was a genuine problem. Lawmakers wanted to stop the violence at the provocative stage before anyone actually showed up at dawn.

During the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, thousands of bikers descend on the small town. To prevent injuries in tightly packed crowds and bar brawls, local ordinances regulate the length of metal spikes worn on leather jackets, boots, or helmets. It keeps the heavy metal aesthetic from becoming a literal hazard.

As remote-controlled quadcopters became popular, students at South Dakota State University kept flying them into or dangerously close to the historic Coughlin Campanile. To protect the landmark and the people walking below, local regulations tightly restricted unmanned aircraft near the tower. A modern solution to a very modern nuisance.