SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The Sioux Falls Area Humane Society says they are no longer accepting owner surrenders at this time due to the shelter being at capacity.

In a post on social media, SFAHS wrote that the decision will help ensures current pets at the shelter receive the care and attention necessary.

The shelter said it will continue to accept strays.

Visit sfhumanesociety.com to view adoptable pets.

Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – A 2023 legal decision is changing how realtors nationwide do business, causing lots of confusion for potential home buyers.

The National Association of Realtors has made some new rules affecting how real estate agents get compensated.

Under the new rules, when a home is sold, the seller doesn’t automatically pay both the listing agent and the buyer’s agent. Instead, the seller can choose how much to pay the buyer’s agents or whether to pay them at all.

Stacey Nelson, a South Dakota Realtor, says this price has always been negotiable.

“One of the confusions about real estate is that the set fee is set, and that’s not true. In South Dakota, our fees have always been negotiable; we establish those professional fees with the buyer’s agents and the listing agent at the time of listing with the client,” Nelson said.

These national changes, which went into effect Saturday, August 17, are meant to make the process clearer for the buyer, the agent and the seller.

But the only significant change in South Dakota is that now, buyers must sign an agreement before they can even begin touring homes with their agent.

“Now when we work with consumers, not actually clients but just somebody coming to look at a house, they will be required to sign a buyers-agency agreement,” Nelson said.

The buyers-agency agreement will detail exactly how much a buyer will be expected to pay their agent.

“For the last 20-some years, we have had explicit buyer-agency agreements with our buyers, and in our listing agreements we’ve disclosed what the buyer’s professional fee is and what the seller’s agent professional fee is,” Nelson explained.

Nelson says the changes won’t impact South Dakota, since realtors in the Mount Rushmore state already did most of the new rules.

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Bennett County in South Dakota has agreed to open a satellite office to resolve claims that it violated the voting rights of Native Americans.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the agreement Monday and said it was prompted by claims that the county failed to make its registration and early voting opportunities equally open to Native American voters.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bennett County will operate a satellite office in Allen. It will provide in-person registration and absentee voting services during regular business hours for the full state-mandated 46-day absentee voting period prior to federal, state and county elections.

Justice disparities on South Dakota reservations need attention, US attorney general says

The Justice Department said equal registration and early voting opportunities are required by the federal Voting Rights Act.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the department’s Civil Rights Division, commented on the agreement in a news release.

“It is time to eliminate all barriers standing between Native American voters and the ballot box across our country,” Clarke said. “An inclusive democracy must provide all of its eligible voters access to the full range of voter registration and early voting opportunities required by law.”

The U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota, Alison Ramsdell, also commented in the news release.

“The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, but that right is hollow without access to registration and early voting opportunities,” Ramsdell said. “We are grateful Bennett County has agreed to improve voting access for Native Americans in South Dakota by adding and staffing a satellite office in Allen.”

The Justice Department’s investigation found that Native Americans living on tribal lands in the county disproportionally lacked the ability to travel long distances to the county seat of Martin for in-person voting services. Since 2015, the state has made Help America Vote Act funds available to counties like Bennett to establish a satellite office on tribal lands.

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