South Dakota Jurat Certificate: Wording, the Raised Hand and the Military Form

This content is educational and informational, not legal advice. Requirements reflect South Dakota Codified Laws title 18 and the South Dakota Notary Public Handbook, but the law can change. Confirm current requirements with the South Dakota Secretary of State before relying on this.

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Fillable South Dakota jurat certificate

Choose the standard jurat or the military version, enter the details, and the certificate updates live. The second tab holds the oath and affirmation exactly as the state handbook words them.

What is the South Dakota jurat wording?

Short, and the Secretary of State describes it as embodying the three elements of a properly made affidavit.

Does South Dakota require the raised right hand?

The handbook says an affidavit should properly be taken that way, which puts South Dakota at odds with several states. Its wording is specific: the notary and the affiant should stand facing each other with raised right hand, and the notary should then ask whether the affiant solemnly swears that the statements contained in the affidavit are the truth. California and Nevada, by contrast, treat raising the hand as tradition rather than requirement. South Dakota then adds the sentence that matters most: the essential thing is that the affiant be made to realize he or she is taking an oath, and this fact should be impressed upon the affiant. The gesture serves that purpose; it is not decoration.

What do the words on the certificate actually mean?

They are testimony, not formality, and the handbook says so. If the certificate contains the words "subscribed and sworn before me," that means the document was signed and that the notary administered an oath under which the signer swore, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the document was true and correct. The handbook states plainly that the words in a notarial certificate are not mere formalities but the notary testifying to what happened. That framing is useful for anyone who thinks a jurat is a rubber stamp: the notary is putting their own account of the encounter on the page.

Does a South Dakota affidavit require identification?

Not strictly, which surprises most notaries, and the handbook explains why. In most states it is not necessary for a notary to request identification from a person making an affidavit, because the notary does not vouch for that person's identity in any way; the certificate merely says the document was sworn to on a specified date. The handbook immediately adds that there is nothing wrong with asking for identification, and that it might in fact be a good idea. Treat that as the practical instruction: ask anyway. The logic behind the rule does not protect you if the affidavit is later challenged.

Can a South Dakota notary take a relative's affidavit?

It is not illegal, though the handbook calls it inadvisable. That puts South Dakota on the permissive side of a question where Maine and Nebraska ban family outright, including in-laws and step relations. What South Dakota does rule out absolutely is obvious: a notary cannot appear before himself or take his own affidavit. If a relative asks, you may proceed, but consider whether anyone reviewing the document later will see an impartial witness. Sending them to another notary costs nothing and removes the question.

Is there a special jurat for military affidavits?

Yes, and it is written into the code. SDCL 18-3-3 sets out the form of jurat for an affidavit by a person in military service, and it reads substantially as "Subscribed and sworn to before me this ___ day of ___, by ___, to me well known to be in the military service of the United States, and who stated to me that his home post office address is as follows." Two extra facts appear that the ordinary form does not carry: that the affiant is known to be serving, and the home post office address. Service members and their families dealing with South Dakota paperwork should expect that version rather than the standard one.

What else should a South Dakota notary know?

Two practicalities that catch people out. The venue names the location where the notarization actually takes place, which is not always the county where the notary lives or works and may not match the commission. And the commission certificate is required by statute to be on display in a public spot for every notarization performed, so it belongs on the wall rather than in a drawer. South Dakota commissions run six years with no term limits, and residency is open to someone in a bordering county who keeps a physical business address in the state.

Published June 13, 2026 by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team. Sources: South Dakota Codified Laws title 18, including chapter 18-1 and section 18-3-3; the South Dakota Notary Public Handbook and the acknowledgements and affidavits guidance published by the South Dakota Secretary of State. Confirm current requirements before relying on this.