South Dakota state law: casino gaming zoning in Deadwood

South Dakota's Constitution confines commercial casino gaming to a single city. SDCL 42-7B-1 provides that limited card games, slot machines, craps, roulette, keno, and wagering on sporting events are authorized "within the city limits of the city of Deadwood, South Dakota, subject to the provisions of this chapter", nowhere else in the state. The scheme took effect only after Deadwood's own voters approved it, and SDCL 42-7B-2 required implementation "through the grant of applicable licenses by the South Dakota Commission on Gaming," the agency that still regulates every casino under SDCL 42-7B-3.

The zoning mechanism sits inside the licensing chapter itself. Before the commission issues a retail gaming license, SDCL 42-7B-18 requires the applicant to submit a "retail floor plan" mapping "the location of each gaming device" within a specific building, and that plan is "subject to prior approval by the Deadwood City Commission", the only point in state law where a municipal body gets a formal say in siting a casino. The license "may only be granted to the retailer," every device must stay "within the retail space of the business," and no single building may hold more than 30 machines under SDCL 42-7B-16 and 42-7B-18.

Betting itself is capped too: SDCL 42-7B-14 sets a $1,000 maximum on any initial or subsequent wager on a covered game. A 2020 constitutional amendment extended the same city-limits authorization to sports wagering, so mobile and in-person sports betting operate under the identical Deadwood-only footprint as the table games and slots.

Conducting gaming without the license tied to an approved floor plan is a Class 6 felony under SDCL 42-7B-22. Cheating, using counterfeit chips, or running rigged equipment is a Class 5 felony under SDCL 42-7B-42. The Commission on Gaming can also suspend or revoke any license "for any cause" that would have blocked its issuance, after notice and a hearing, under SDCL 42-7B-32, or impose a monetary penalty instead of revocation.