An easement is an interest in land that is owned by another person and gives the easement holder or easement owner the right to use or control the other person’s land in some limited way—such as the right to drive across another person’s private property to access a public highway or other public road (an ingress-and-egress easement).

There are many different types of easements, depending on the nature of the use of the land—such light-and-air easements; mineral easements; timber easements; noise easements; and railroad easements—and how the easement was acquired—an express easement; an implied easement; a prescriptive easement; an easement by necessity; or an easement by estoppel, for example.

There are also negative easements that prohibit the owner of a property (the servient-estate) from doing something, such as building a home or structure that blocks the view or sunlight for an easement holder—often an adjoining property owner (the dominant estate).

Public utility companies (gas, electricity, telephone, water, sewer, cable, etc.) often have easements to place utility transmission, distribution, or power lines on private property and access them for installation, repair, and maintenance.

Laws regarding easements vary from state to state and may be located in a state’s court opinions (also known as its common law or case law) or in its statutes.

In South Dakota, easements are recognized as non-possessory rights to use another person's land for a specific purpose. Easements can be created in various ways, including expressly through a written agreement, impliedly by longstanding use, by necessity when landlocked property requires access, or by prescription after continuous and open use for a statutory period. South Dakota law acknowledges different types of easements, such as ingress and egress, utility, light and air, and negative easements, which restrict certain uses of the servient estate to benefit the dominant estate. Utility companies often have statutory easements for installing and maintaining infrastructure. The creation, transfer, and termination of easements may be governed by both state statutes and case law. It is important for property owners and easement holders to understand their rights and obligations under South Dakota law, and they may need to consult with an attorney to navigate the complexities of easement law.