Lincoln County, SD Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 90's nuisance ordinance opens with a blanket prohibition in § 90.01: no person may create, commit, or maintain a nuisance anywhere in the unincorporated area of Lincoln County, and person is defined broadly enough to reach individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other entities. Section 90.02(A) then spells out abandoned property as one of the specific things the ordinance declares a nuisance: any deteriorated, wrecked, dismantled, derelict, or inoperable property left outside of an enclosed permanent structure, expressly including deteriorated, wrecked, inoperative, dismantled or partially dismantled, or unlicensed motor vehicles, along with dilapidated or unregistered mobile homes, trailers, boats, machinery, appliances, plumbing fixtures, furniture, automotive parts, waste building materials, and junk.

The Planning Director enforces Chapter 90 under § 90.03 and may call on other county employees, including the Sheriff's Department, to assist. Before taking action, the Planning Director may inspect the property under the right-of-entry procedure in § 90.04, then must serve the owner written notice to abate under § 90.05, which may be mailed. Failing to abate within the time the notice allows is itself unlawful under § 90.06, and the Planning Director then notifies the state's attorney of the failure. Section 90.99 sets the penalty for maintaining or failing to abate any Chapter 90 nuisance, including an abandoned vehicle, at a Class 2 misdemeanor carrying up to 30 days in jail, a $200 fine, or both, with each day the violation continues potentially a separate offense; the county can also pursue civil abatement remedies under SDCL §§ 21-10-5 through 21-10-9.