In any action or proceeding at law or in equity, if the title to any cattle, horses, mules, sheep, or buffalo is involved, the brand on any animal shall be prima facie evidence of the ownership of the person whose brand it may be, if such brand is currently registered and renewed as provided by law. Proof of the right of any person to use any brand shall be made by a copy of the register of the same, certified in all cases of brands registered under this chapter, by the board.
S.D. Codified Laws § 40-19-24
Registered brand as prima facie evidence of ownership--Copy of register as proof of brand
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Stromberger Farms, Inc. v. Johnson (2020)
Most recently applied in First Dakota National Bank v. Gregg (September 2021)
Source: SDC 1939, § 40.1216; SL 1988, ch 328, § 41.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.