Minnehaha County, SD Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Several U.S. cities (San Diego, Honolulu, New Orleans, parts of Massachusetts) require a local responsible party — sometimes called a 'local contact,' 'agent,' or 'on-site host' — who must be physically present during rental, or available 24/7 and able to respond on-site within a fixed window (e.g., 60 minutes). Minnehaha County does not impose any such requirement in unincorporated areas, and Sioux Falls' §159.303 takes a lighter approach: the operator must provide Planning and Development Services with a current contact name and phone number and post that contact information both inside and outside the dwelling, but no response-time obligation is set, and the contact does not have to be a local resident. Brandon, Hartford, and Dell Rapids have not adopted distance-based or response-time host-presence rules. The practical effect is that a fully unhosted whole-home rental managed remotely by an out-of-state owner or by a property-management company is permissible throughout Minnehaha County, including in Sioux Falls, provided the §159.303 contact-posting condition is met inside the city limits.