Minnehaha County, SD Ordinances (2026)

Minnehaha County requires every residential swimming pool holding 18 inches or more of water to be enclosed by a barrier at least 42 inches tall, with gaps no wider than a 4-inch…

Minnehaha County only exempts small prefabricated above-ground pools from the building permit required by the 2021 IBC: those less than 18 inches deep, no larger than 5,000 gallons…

Minnehaha County applies the National Electric Code as adopted by the State of South Dakota to every electrical installation, alteration, repair, and replacement, including equipment…

Minnehaha County requires a building permit before anyone constructs, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes, or changes the occupancy of a building or structure, or installs…

Under Section R315.2.2 of Minnehaha County's adopted 2021 IRC, existing one- and two-family dwellings must add carbon monoxide alarms whenever an alteration, repair, or addition permit…

Minnehaha County enforces the International Plumbing Code as adopted by the State of South Dakota for every plumbing installation, alteration, repair, and replacement, including work…

Minnehaha County exempts retaining walls up to 4 feet tall, measured from the bottom of the grade to the top of the wall, from the building permit required under the 2021 IBC. Section…

Minnehaha County's 2021 IBC ordinance exempts fences up to 6 feet tall from the building permit otherwise required under Section 105.1. Section 105.2, item 2 makes clear that fences of…

Minnehaha County bans leaving deteriorated, wrecked, or inoperable property outside an enclosed structure on unincorporated land. The Planning Director enforces the rule under…

Minnehaha County's adopted 2021 International Residential Code requires a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every additional story of a one- or…

When the County Commission declares a "Fire Danger Emergency" under Ordinance MC34-04, all open burning becomes illegal across the unincorporated county until the Board rescinds the…

Even during a declared Fire Danger Emergency, Ordinance MC34-04 exempts fire kept in a container sufficient to stop burning material, sparks, flames or hot ashes from escaping, so a…

Minnehaha County's solid waste ordinance requires unincorporated households and every commercial, business, or apartment operation to pull recyclable materials out of the trash stream…

Dumping solid waste anywhere in Minnehaha County outside the ways this ordinance permits triggers a fine of up to $200, up to 30 days in jail, or both under Section 11.02 of MC17-91…

Every residential property in unincorporated Minnehaha County must use a licensed commercial garbage hauler and receive collection at least once a week under Section 2.03 of Ordinance…

Minnehaha County outlaws letting manure, garbage, tires, or debris pile up on unincorporated land if it becomes a harboring or breeding area for rodents and vermin. Ordinance MC33-04…

Anyone installing, relocating or expanding a utility facility in a Minnehaha County highway right-of-way must first get a permit from the County Highway Superintendent under Ordinance…

Minnehaha County bans smoking or consuming cannabis, medical cannabis, and cannabis products in any public place across the unincorporated county. Adopted as Ordinance MC 58-21 in July…

Minnehaha County parks allow only malt beverages, meaning beer, not liquor or wine, under Ordinance MC8-85, Section 25. Wall Lake Park is stricter still: no alcoholic beverage of any…

Grass in a residential subdivision in unincorporated Minnehaha County cannot exceed 12 inches, and noxious weeds are banned outright. Ordinance MC33-04 lets the Planning Director order…

In a Residential Development Area, an owner cannot let an animal make frequent, habitual or continued loud noise that becomes a neighbor nuisance. A conviction requires at least two…

Minnehaha County has not opted out of medical cannabis, but Ordinance MC60-21 caps the county to one licensed dispensary at a time and bars cultivation, testing, and manufacturing…

A medical cannabis dispensary applicant in Minnehaha County must certify its proposed location complies with all county zoning requirements, including distance from single-family…

Minnehaha County exempts one-story detached tool and storage sheds, playhouses, and similar accessory structures up to 120 square feet from the building permit required by the 2021…

Minnehaha County has no breed ban. Instead, the county's Revised Animal Control Ordinance lets an Animal Control Officer, a treating physician, or a court declare any individual dog or…

In a Residential Development Area, a household cannot keep more than a combined total of four dogs, cats, or potbellied pigs over six months old. The cap combines all three species…

No animal may run at large in unincorporated Minnehaha County. An animal off its owner's premises and not under immediate physical control, meaning on a leash or otherwise actively…

Minnehaha County bans keeping exotic animals such as big cats, venomous snakes, wolves, coyotes, bears, and non-human primates, except animals lawfully kept before the ordinance took…

In flood hazard areas of unincorporated Minnehaha County, builders must document the as-built elevation of a structure's lowest floor, including the basement, before framing continues…

Any new subdivision in unincorporated Minnehaha County must include a drainage plan under Ordinance MC23-93, Section 9.02. The plan covers on-site detention, drainageways, detention…

Minnehaha County requires an erosion control plan for every subdivision development site under Ordinance MC23-93, Section 10.01. Grading, cut-and-fill work and vegetation stripping…

Minnehaha County's 2021 IBC amendments let a home day care with 12 or fewer children keep its dwelling's residential Group R-3 building classification instead of triggering commercial…

Minnehaha County parks allow bicycles off paved paths, but Ordinance MC8-85, Section 26, still holds riders to the county's general bicycle operation and equipment ordinances and a…

Anyone who wants to be in a Minnehaha County park after posted closing hours needs a written permit from the county's Park Board under Ordinance MC8-85, Section 16. Requests must be…

Parades, processions, bands, military displays, entertainment, exhibitions and public meetings are not allowed in a Minnehaha County park without a written permit under Ordinance…

Minnehaha County parks close on hours the Park Board sets and posts at each entrance, and Ordinance MC8-85, Section 21, makes it unlawful to be in a park during closed hours without a…

An unlicensed, wrecked, dismantled or inoperable vehicle left outside an enclosed structure is a declared public nuisance in unincorporated Minnehaha County under Ordinance MC33-04…