Office of Procurement Management, South Dakota Bureau of Human Resources and Administration
The Bureau of Human Resources and Administration handles central purchasing for state agencies and is the office the procurement code assigns to maintain the list of states with resident bidder preference laws. It does not run a veteran business certification program, so there is no veteran certification contact to publish. Office of Procurement Management, South Dakota Bureau of Human Resources and Administration →
No veteran certification
The state operates no veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned business certification for procurement purposes.
No veteran preference
Chapter 5-18A of the South Dakota Codified Laws, the general procurement chapter, contains no veteran provision.
Tie-breakers only
The resident preferences in the code apply only when all things are equal, including price and quality of the supplies or services.
The preference
No veteran provision in the procurement code
South Dakota’s general procurement chapter sets out the preferences available on state contracts and none of them involve veterans. There is no percentage bid preference, no procurement goal, no set-aside, and no tie-breaker for veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
- The preference sections in the chapter are limited to resident businesses, qualified agencies, resident manufacturers, businesses using South Dakota supplies or services, and reciprocal treatment of out-of-state bidders.
- Because there is no preference, there is nothing to claim and no certification to hold.
Source: SDCL § 5-18A-25, Preferences to certain resident businesses
What the resident preferences actually do
In awarding a contract, if all things are equal including price and quality, the purchasing agency must prefer a qualified agency over a non-qualified agency, a resident business over a nonresident business, a resident manufacturer over a resident non-manufacturer, a resident business with its principal place of business in South Dakota over one without, and a nonresident business using South Dakota supplies or services over one that does not. Transportation and delivery costs are counted in computing price.
- A resident is defined as a person or entity licensed to do business in the state that has maintained a substantial and bona fide place of business and conducted business in the state for at least one year before the award.
- A separate reciprocal preference gives a resident bidder a preference equal to whatever preference another state or foreign province would impose, and the Bureau of Human Resources and Administration maintains the list of those states.
- The code also allows, but does not require, a preference of up to 5 percent for supplies manufactured from recycled or biobased materials.
Source: SDCL § 5-18A-26, Resident bidder preferred over nonresident bidder
Finding opportunities
Register with the state and bid
With no certification to obtain, South Dakota comes down to vendor registration and watching solicitations. The Bureau of Human Resources and Administration publishes vendor information, bid and solicitation listings, and the state vendor manual through its procurement management pages.
- Before award, a purchasing agency may require bidders to supply information letting it decide whether a bidder is entitled to a preference or has one enforced against it.
- If two or more sealed bids are identical in price and product quality, are the low bid, and no resident preference applies, the agency has discretion over how to break the tie.
Other
Build around federal certification
Because South Dakota offers nothing at the state level, the only certification worth holding for a South Dakota service-disabled veteran business owner is the federal SBA Veteran Small Business Certification, which is free and is what federal buyers and several other states recognize.
- South Dakota’s own resident preferences are available on their own terms if you maintain a bona fide South Dakota place of business for a year.
- The reciprocal preference means a South Dakota bid from a company based in a preference state can be penalized by the amount of that state’s own preference.
Source: SDCL § 5-18A-27, List of states with resident bidder preferences
What gets reported wrongly about South Dakota
- South Dakota sometimes appears on aggregated lists of states with veteran business programs. There is no such program in the procurement code, no certification office, and no state directory of veteran-owned firms for contracting.
- The resident preferences are not percentage price preferences. They only operate when price and quality are already equal, which makes them tie-breakers rather than bidding advantages.
- The reciprocal preference in § 5-18A-26 cuts both ways and is driven by your home state’s law, not by anything about your business. A veteran-owned firm bidding into South Dakota from a preference state should price with that in mind.
Every figure on this page links to the source it came from. Verified October 24, 2026. Procurement rules change — check the source before you rely on a number.
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