Judicial notice is a court’s acceptance of a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the party relying on the fact to prove it. The doctrine of judicial notice is one of common sense, and is based on the theory that where a fact is well-known in the community—or its existence is easily determined from sources that cannot be reasonably questioned—it would not be a good use of judicial time and resources to require formal proof of the fact in court. A court may take judicial notice of both facts and laws.

In South Dakota, the concept of judicial notice is governed by state statutes and rules of evidence, similar to those found at the federal level. Specifically, South Dakota Codified Laws (SDCL) and the South Dakota Rules of Evidence (SDRE) provide the framework for when and how courts can take judicial notice of certain facts and laws. Under SDCL § 19-9-2 and SDRE Rule 201, a court may take judicial notice of adjudicative facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are either generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. This includes facts from the realm of common knowledge as well as those derived from scientific or historical data, records, and reports. Additionally, under SDRE Rule 202, courts can take judicial notice of laws, which include statutes, administrative rules and regulations, and case law. The doctrine simplifies proceedings by accepting certain facts and laws as true without requiring formal presentation of evidence.