South Dakota Garnishment Forms and Rules: What You Need to File

You have a judgment. You know the debtor has a job or a bank account. Now you need the actual paperwork. South Dakota's garnishment forms are available through the Unified Judicial System (UJS), but they arrive as blank PDFs with no instructions — the clerk's office cannot tell you which ones to use or how to fill them out.

The Garnishment Forms You Need

South Dakota uses a standardized packet for both wage and bank garnishments under SDCL Chapter 21-18. The core forms are:

Garnishment Cover Sheet — This is the routing form that goes on top of the packet. It identifies the case, the type of garnishment (wage or non-wage), and ensures the clerk processes the correct documents.

Garnishee Summons and Affidavit — The main document. It names the creditor, debtor, and the garnishee (the employer or bank), states the original judgment details and the amount still owed including accrued interest, and legally commands the garnishee to comply.

Service of Garnishment Disclosure — Served alongside the summons. This is the form the garnishee (employer or bank) must complete and return, disclosing what they hold or owe to the debtor.

Garnishee's Affidavit Denying Liability — Used by the garnishee if they owe nothing to the debtor. An employer uses this when the debtor no longer works there. A bank uses it when the account holds zero funds or does not exist.

All forms must be printed single-sided and completed in black ink. The UJS rejects double-sided submissions and forms completed in colored ink.

Where to Get the Forms

Download them from the UJS Self-Help portal at ujs.sd.gov under the small claims or civil law forms sections. You can also request paper copies from the Clerk of Courts in your county.

The UJS also operates a Legal Form Helpline (1-855-784-0004) that can point you to the right forms, though they cannot advise you on how to complete them.

Filing and Service Rules

Once you have completed the garnishment packet:

1. File the original with the Clerk of Courts in the county where the judgment was entered, along with the filing fee.
2. Serve a copy on the garnishee (employer or bank) by certified mail with return receipt requested, or through the county sheriff. Sheriff service costs vary — Minnehaha County charges around $50 plus $10 mileage for paper service.
3. Serve a copy on the debtor so they have notice and an opportunity to claim exemptions.

Service on the garnishee is the triggering event. For wage garnishments, it creates a 120-day continuing lien on the debtor's earnings. For bank garnishments, it freezes whatever non-exempt funds are in the account at the moment of service.

Key Rules Under SDCL Chapter 21-18

30-day waiting period — Under SDCL 15-6-62(a), enforcement generally waits until 30 days after judgment entry, unless the judgment was by default or the court orders otherwise for good cause.

Wage garnishment cap — The lesser of (1) 20% of disposable earnings or (2) the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 40 times the applicable minimum wage (the federal rate in effect on July 24, 2009, or a higher applicable state rate), reduced by $25 per week for each dependent family member residing with the debtor (SDCL 21-18-51).

Bank garnishment is a snapshot — It captures only the funds present at the moment of service. It does not create a continuing lien on future deposits.

Federal benefits are automatically protected — Under 31 CFR Part 212, a bank must review the two months before it receives a garnishment order and protect up to two months' worth of qualifying federal benefits directly deposited during that period. The bank may freeze any excess balance; other exempt funds may require a separate exemption claim.

Exemption deadlines are short — Under SDCL 21-19-9, the debtor has 5 days after notice of levy to file a Claim of Exemptions, or 8 days after actual mailing if notice is sent by registered or certified mail. Missing that window can waive non-absolute exemptions; absolute exemptions are not waived by failure to claim them (SDCL 21-19-15).

The forms themselves are free. What they do not give you is the sequence, the calculations, or the decision of when to use wage garnishment versus a bank garnishment versus a writ of execution. The South Dakota judgment collection guide connects those forms to the full enforcement roadmap.

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