Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
South Dakota County
McCook County, South Dakota
Salem's agricultural heritage and McCook County's James River farmland - from McCook County's position in the James River valley agricultural corridor (the fertile glaciated soils of the southeast South Dakota James River plain make McCook County one of the state's productive corn, soybean, and small grain counties, with the farming families who have worked this land for 140 years representing the enduring agricultural heritage of the northern Great Plains) to Salem's role as the commercial hub for the county's farming communities between Sioux Falls and Mitchell.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: McCook County Emergency Management – Director: BJ Stiefvater, 400 S Hill St, PO Box 309, Salem, SD 57058 | (605) 425-2085 / cell (605) 421-8392 | Email: [email protected]
Services: Mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery coordination
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-90, US-81, and SD-38 meet at Salem, the county seat, in southeastern South Dakota between Mitchell and Sioux Falls
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: McCook County Planning & Zoning – (605) 425-3281
Notes: Cities of Bridgewater, Canistota, Montrose, Salem, and Spencer each handle their own separate in-town building permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: McCook County Veterans Service Officer – McCook County Courthouse, Salem, SD
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Salem Community Library – 200 East Essex, Salem, SD 57058 | (605) 425-2264
Notes: Hanson-McCook Regional Library also serves the Spencer, SD area, (605) 246-2740.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: McCook County is genuinely home to one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of roadside architecture found anywhere along South Dakota’s Interstate system – the SALEM REST STOP TIPIS, a matched pair of giant concrete tipi sculptures marking the eastbound and westbound rest areas along I-90 near Salem, both individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the statewide “Concrete Interstate Tipis of South Dakota” collection; designed by architect Ward Whitwam and affectionately nicknamed “Whitwam’s Wigwams” by South Dakotans, the genuinely engineering-intensive tipis were built using eight massive pre-stressed concrete lodgepoles, each weighing roughly 6.5 tons and cast in Sioux Falls before being erected on-site by a Rapid City construction crew; the base of each tipi spans 35 feet in diameter with a 3-foot opening at the top, and decorative isosceles-triangle patterns worked into the lodgepoles and surrounding sidewalk form the outline of thunderbirds, illuminated by spotlights after dark; the Salem tipis were installed in the fall of 1968, following the first pair built that same summer near Wasta, and proved so popular with cross-country travelers that South Dakota’s tourism department ultimately built nine of these landmark sculptures altogether along I-90 and I-29 – at Wasta, Chamberlain, Salem, Spearfish, Valley Springs, and New Effington – with the South Dakota Department of Tourism eventually printing informational cards on tipi dimensions simply to answer the volume of curious visitor questions; genuinely, the concept proved so enduringly recognizable that all nine surviving tipis were collectively added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015; visitors can also explore the McCook County Museum in Salem, open Fridays 1:30-5:00 PM, and the McCook County Courthouse itself, a 1934 Art Deco building individually listed on the National Register in 1993
Notes: The Salem Rest Stop Tipis’ genuine, federally documented status as one-of-a-kind mid-century roadside sculpture – an engineering feat beloved enough to earn its own statewide historic designation – is one of the most distinctive and photographable landmarks found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: McCook County GIS – accessible via mccookcountysd.com
Parcel Search: McCook County Register of Deeds – (605) 425-2701
Addressing/911: Coordinated through McCook County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Notes: No dedicated county-run animal shelter or animal control department was confirmed in available sources for McCook County. For strays or animal concerns, contact the McCook County Sheriff’s Office, (605) 425-2761. The nearest confirmed regional shelters are in larger South Dakota cities such as Sioux Falls or Mitchell – contact directly to confirm whether they accept intake from McCook 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
McCook County is genuinely home to the Salem Rest Stop Tipis, giant National Register-listed concrete sculptures marking one of South Dakota’s most recognizable Interstate landmarks. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and courthouse pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About McCook County
McCook County is southeast South Dakota’s James River agricultural county – the fertile till plain farmland between Sioux Falls and Mitchell produces exceptional grain yields on land that farming families have cultivated since the 1870s.
Salem (the county seat, population ~1,300) serves the county’s agricultural communities along the I-90 corridor between Sioux Falls and Mitchell.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
McCook County Director of Equalization at 130 W. Essex Avenue, Salem, SD 57058, phone 605-425-2781. SD residential owner-occupied exemptions apply.
Courts & Legal
McCook County Circuit Court at 130 W. Essex Avenue, Salem, SD 57058, phone 605-425-2781, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF COURTS
130 East Essex Ave, Salem, SD 57058
(605) 425-2781
Genealogy
County-level record sources
McCook County Clerk of Courts, Salem (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1934 McCook County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated McCook 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, McCook County PO Box 190/504, Salem, SD 57058 (605) 425-2781
McCook County was created January 8, 1873 and organized June 15, 1878, named for Edwin Stanton McCook, in southeastern South Dakota, seated in Salem. The 1934 McCook County Courthouse, Moderne/Art Deco in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 McCook 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 McCook 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
130 East Essex Ave, Salem, SD 57058
(605) 425-2779
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
AUDITOR (ELECTIONS)
130 East Essex Ave, Salem, SD 57058
(605) 425-2585
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
130 East Essex Ave, Salem, SD 57058
(605) 425-2585
Social Services
130 East Essex Ave, Salem, SD 57058
(605) 425-2585
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: McCook County Health Nurse – (605) 425-2671
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Salem
Population: 5,700
Established: 1873
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for McCook County residents.
