3 day notice to vacate is not a formal eviction in Pennington County

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - In Pennington County, there is one law in place that confuses many who are facing evictions three days’ notice. Black Hills Fox spoke with one person who was handed what is called a three-day notice to vacate.

That person was confused as to how they could be evicted on just three days’ notice but in fact, that’s not exactly the case.

Lawyers and the sheriffs explained to us that the purpose of this letter is to give tenants three days to vacate the premises with no penalty or official eviction notice going on their records. After those three days, the landlord can then officially start the eviction process.

Deputy David Douma with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office says it’s not only a misconception for the tenants but for property managers as well.

“A lot of times we serve that document and the people don’t move out we’ll get the landlord calling us saying you know ‘Hey they didn’t get out we need you the sheriff to come out and forcibly remove them. And of course, we don’t we have no authority to do that,” Douma said.

Douma emphasized that the Pennington County Sheriff’s office always aims to give people facing evictions ample time to leave and will even give a courtesy note as to when they will arrive for the formal eviction.

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