(a) The secretary of state shall establish and maintain a registry that contains all environmental covenants and any amendment or termination of those covenants. The registry may also contain any other information concerning environmental covenants and the real property subject to them which the secretary of state considers appropriate. The registry is a public record.

(b) After an environmental covenant or an amendment or termination of a covenant is filed in the registry established pursuant to subsection (a), a notice of the covenant, amendment, or termination that complies with this section may be recorded in the land records in lieu of recording the entire covenant. Any such notice must contain:

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Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 34A-17-12

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Property: includes property, real and personal. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.

(1) A legally sufficient description and any available street address of the real property subject to the covenant;

(2) The name and address of the owner of the fee simple interest in the real property, the agency, and the holder if other than the agency;

(3) A statement that the covenant, amendment, or termination is available in a registry at the Office of the Secretary of State which discloses the method of any electronic access; and

(4) A statement that the notice is notification of an environmental covenant executed pursuant to this chapter.

(c) A statement in substantially the following form, executed with the same formalities as a deed in this state, satisfies the requirements of subsection (b):

“1. This notice is filed in the land records of the county of [insert name of jurisdiction in which the real property is located] pursuant to § 34A-17-12.

2. This notice and the covenant, amendment, or termination to which it refers may impose significant obligations with respect to the property described below.

3. A legal description of the property is attached as Exhibit A to this notice. The address of the property that is subject to the environmental covenant is [insert address of property] [not available].

4. The name and address of the owner of the fee simple interest in the real property on the date of this notice is [insert name of current owner of the property and the owner’s current address as shown on the tax records of the jurisdiction in which the property is located].

5. The environmental covenant, amendment, or termination was signed by [insert name and address of the agency].

6. The environmental covenant, amendment, or termination was filed in the registry on [insert date of filing].

7. The full text of the covenant, amendment, or termination and any other information required by the agency is on file and available for inspection and copying in the registry maintained for that purpose by the Office of the Secretary of State in the State Capitol. The covenant, amendment, or termination may be found electronically at www.sdsos.gov.”

Source: SL 2005, ch 196, § 12.