What is the statute of limitations for defamation claims?

In South Dakota, the statute of limitations for a civil defamation claim is one (1) year from the date the allegedly defamatory statement was made. This means that a person has one (1) year from when the statement in question was made to file a lawsuit. The one-year statute of limitations applies to both libel and slander. Libel is a defamatory statement made in a permanent or published form, such as writing, photography, or film. Slander is a spoken statement that is considered to be false and damaging to a person’s reputation. In general, courts are reluctant to hear arguments for extending the one-year statute of limitations in South Dakota. This is due to the fact that it is the responsibility of the person who has been defamed to be aware of the time limit for filing a lawsuit. Furthermore, the court may take into consideration the length of time it has taken for the person to file the lawsuit - if they have waited too long, the court may take this as evidence that the defamation has not caused much harm and may dismiss the case. Additionally, the statute of limitations may be ‘tolled’ (or paused) if the person who has allegedly been defamed was a minor or mentally incompetent at the time the defamatory statement was made. This may allow the person to bring a lawsuit later than the one-year limitation. Overall, the South Dakota’s statute of limitations for defamation claims is one (1) year from the date the allegedly defamatory statement was made. The state is reluctant to extend this time limit, however, members of special circumstances may be able to take advantage of the ‘tolling’ option.

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What is the statute of limitations for defamation claims?

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