South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands

About this position

The South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands is an elected, constitutional officer in the executive branch of the South Dakota state government. The office is charged with supervising lands designated for educational use by the federal government, among other various duties. The commissioner is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms. The South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public lands has several duties prescribed by Article VIII of the South Dakota Constitution. The office was mainly created to deal with lands designated for educational use by the federal government. Section 4 lays out the details for appraising such school lands that might be sold. It states that the commissioner sits on a board of appraisers that evaluate all such land. This board also includes the auditor and county superintendent of schools. Section 6 describes that such sales are to be conducted through the commissioner's office. All sales are subject to approval by the governor. Section 9 details the commissioner's role in leasing these lands. Other duties of the commissioner of school and public lands include: managing the permanent trust fund; issuing and maintaining grazing leases; inspecting and repairing state-owned CCC and WPA dams; issuing and monitoring all mineral leases for the state; controlling noxious weeds on school and public lands, state-owned dams and meandered lakes; recording land transactions for easements on rights-of-way and state-owned lands; purchasing and selling property as requested by the legislature or other state agencies; issuing seismic permits on state-owned mineral acres.