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South Dakota County
Aurora County, South Dakota
Plankinton and I-90 corridor south Dakota farming - from Plankinton's position along Interstate 90 in south-central South Dakota to Aurora County's productive prairie agriculture (the county's flat to gently rolling glacial terrain supports corn, soybean, wheat, and sunflower production alongside cattle operations, with Plankinton's I-90 access providing convenient market connections for the surrounding farm communities in one of South Dakota's smaller and more rural south-central counties).
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Office: Aurora County Emergency Management – Aurora County Courthouse, 401 N. Main Street, Plankinton, SD 57368 | (605) 942-7751 | Hours: Tue–Thu 8 AM–4:30 PM (CT); emergency support available 24/7
Services: Assistance to persons and families during a disaster, local emergency planning and mitigation, grant applications for first responder equipment, floodplain questions
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-281 and I-90 serve Plankinton, the county seat, in the James River valley of south-central South Dakota
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Contact the relevant municipality directly – Plankinton City Hall handles permits for in-city construction/renovation projects; (605) 942-7767
Notes: No dedicated county-level building/permitting office was confirmed in available sources for unincorporated Aurora County – contact the Aurora County Auditor’s office, (605) 942-7752, for guidance on county requirements.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Aurora County Veterans Service Officer – Aurora County Courthouse, Plankinton, SD | (605) 942-7150
Key Assets: Aurora County is genuinely tied to an overlooked piece of South Dakota history – Plankinton, its county seat, opened the state’s very first “grain palace” in September 1891, a large exhibition hall (roughly 80 feet square, built at the north end of Main Street) constructed and decorated entirely with local grain and agricultural produce to showcase the region’s farming bounty; contemporary newspaper coverage from the Aberdeen Weekly News predicted it would be “the greatest display of grain ever shown by any country,” and the festival drew large crowds, including a band from Lennox and trainloads of spectators arriving from as far as Sioux City and Mitchell; Plankinton’s success directly inspired the neighboring city of Mitchell to build its own grain palace the following year in 1892, igniting a genuine friendly rivalry between the two towns – a competition that, in a twist of local history, ultimately led Plankinton’s own palace to be dismantled just two years later in 1893 after residents decided their smaller town couldn’t sustain a third annual palace, while Mitchell’s version endured and evolved over the following decades into the world-famous Corn Palace, now one of South Dakota’s most iconic tourist attractions; Plankinton’s original palace building was ultimately reassembled as a barn outside of town; Aurora County’s small towns of White Lake and Stickney also each contribute several homes and buildings to the National Register of Historic Places, including White Lake’s Hilton House (now operating as the Geyer Guesthouse) and Hofmeister House, and Stickney’s Lincoln House and William P. Smith House
Notes: Plankinton’s genuine, largely forgotten role as the true birthplace of South Dakota’s now-famous “grain palace” tradition – direct predecessor to Mitchell’s iconic Corn Palace – is a piece of authentic regional history worth sharing here.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Aurora County GIS – contact the Aurora County Auditor’s Office for current parcel/GIS access
Parcel Search: Aurora County Office of Equalization – (605) 942-7164
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Aurora County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Notes: No dedicated county-run animal shelter or animal control department was confirmed in available sources for Aurora County. For strays or animal concerns, contact the Aurora County Sheriff’s Office (non-emergency: (605) 942-7736) or the South Dakota Unified Judicial System local office. The nearest confirmed regional shelters are in larger South Dakota cities (e.g., Sioux Falls Area Humane Society, Aberdeen Area Humane Society) – contact directly to confirm whether they accept intake from Aurora County residents.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) – danr.sd.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Aurora County’s seat, Plankinton, genuinely opened South Dakota’s first grain palace in 1891 – the direct predecessor to Mitchell’s now world-famous Corn Palace. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and health department pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Aurora County
Aurora County is south-central South Dakota’s I-90 corridor agricultural county – productive grain and livestock farming defines a small county where Plankinton’s interstate access supports the agricultural economy and provides connections to Mitchell and Sioux Falls for the county’s rural communities.
Plankinton (the county seat, population ~700) is Aurora County’s governmental and commercial center, a small I-90 community serving the county’s farm families in south-central South Dakota.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Aurora County Assessor at 401 N. Main Street, Plankinton, SD 57368, phone 605-942-7752. SD assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Aurora County Circuit Court at 401 N. Main Street, Plankinton, SD 57368, phone 605-942-7752, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF COURTS
401 North Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368
(605) 942-7162
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Aurora County Clerk of Courts, Plankinton (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Aurora County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Clerk of Courts, Aurora County 401 North Main Street, PO Box 366, Plankinton, SD 57368 (605) 942-7165
Aurora County was created in 1879 and organized in 1881, named for the Roman goddess of the dawn, in southeastern South Dakota, seated in Plankinton. The 1939-40 Aurora County Courthouse, Art Moderne/Art Deco in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places – one of only four South Dakota county courthouses designed by architects Kings & Dixon.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
South Dakota HAS adopted the Uniform Probate Code (Articles I, II, III, IV, and VIII, effective July 1, 1995). Probate proceedings are handled by the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent lived, generally administered under the supervision of the Clerk of Courts.
Small Estate Affidavit – Collection of Personal Property (SDCL § 29A-3-1201) – available when the total gross value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $50,000. At least 30 days must have passed since death, no petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere, and the decedent had no outstanding debts to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance or institutional/nursing home care. A separate affidavit exists for South Dakota real estate under $50,000, which must also be filed with the Register of Deeds where the property sits.
Informal Probate – the most common track in South Dakota, used when heirs and beneficiaries are getting along and no disputes are expected.
Unsupervised Formal Probate and Supervised Formal Probate – for more complex or contested situations.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files an application or petition with the Clerk of Courts in Aurora County, along with the original will if one exists.
For informal probate, the clerk reviews the application administratively and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration without a hearing in most cases.
Formal proceedings require notice to interested parties and, if contested, a hearing before the circuit judge.
The personal representative gathers and inventories assets, notifies creditors, and pays valid debts and expenses.
After debts and taxes are satisfied, remaining assets are distributed according to the will or South Dakota’s intestacy statutes (SDCL Chapter 29A-2).
The estate is formally closed by filing a sworn closing statement or a petition for formal order of discharge (SDCL § 29A-3-1003).
What it costs
Court costs are set by law and paid to the Clerk of Courts; confirm current fees with Aurora County directly.
South Dakota has NO state estate tax and NO state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
A surviving spouse cannot be disinherited in South Dakota unless the spouse agrees.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
401 North Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368
(605) 942-7676
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
AUDITOR (ELECTIONS)
401 North Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368
(605) 942-7162
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
401 North Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368
(605) 942-7162
Department of Social Services
401 North Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368
(605) 942-7162
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Aurora County Community Health Center – 106 S. Main St, Plankinton, SD 57368 | (605) 942-7711
Related: Aurora County Public Health Nursing Service (PHNS) – Aurora County Courthouse, 401 N. Main, PO Box 397, Plankinton, SD 57368, (605) 910-4571, Hours: Mon/Wed/Thu 8 AM–4:30 PM; Aurora County WIC – same address, (605) 995-8050, by appointment; Avera White Lake Clinic – 306 S. Johnston St, White Lake, SD 57383, (605) 337-1529.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Plankinton
Population: 2,600
Established: 1879
Tier: 4
Public Records
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