Safety & records · South Dakota
Reading a daycare's record in South Dakota
South Dakota publishes inspection records through OLA Constituent Portal / searchable database (DSS Office of Licensing and Accreditation). This page walks you to the record, decodes its vocabulary from the state's own definitions, and states what the archive cannot tell you. We never name, rate, or score a center.
First, the money
Records are half the decision. The other half is whether you can get help paying — run the free check for South Dakota before you fall in love with a center you cannot fund.
The portal
OLA Constituent Portal / searchable database (DSS Office of Licensing and Accreditation)
Annual monitoring inspection results and substantiated complaint inspection results: date of citation, the licensing rule in violation, a brief description, the required correction, and the provider's corrective actions.
What this portal does not show
Only substantiated complaint results are posted. Abuse and neglect complaints are referred to CPS and never appear in the licensing portal.
How South Dakota grades what it finds
Citations by ARSD 67:42 with compliance / corrective action plan status; narrative, no severity classes.
Words like these are decoded, term by term, in the records decoder — always from the state's own published definitions, and always with the correction status given the same weight as the finding.
If you need to report something
Your OLA licensing specialist; abuse and neglect (CPS) to 877-244-0864.
Read any record in this order
- The license status first — active, conditional, or under action.
- The findings, newest to oldest, watching for the same rule cited twice.
- The correction status on each finding — corrected, corrected on site, plan accepted, or still open. It carries the same weight as the finding.
- The blind spots above: what this archive structurally cannot show you.
Portal facts checked October 2026. Only the state agency's record is the record — this page is a map to it, not a copy of it.