March 9, 1990

Karen A. Johnson
Custer County States Attorney
P.O. Box 749
Custer, South Dakota 57730

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 90-14

Qualification of property for agricultural classification

Dear Ms. Johnson:

You have requested an official opinion from this Office regarding the following facts:

FACTS:

An individual in Custer County recently purchased 100.02 acres in platted land. The individual does not own or lease any other unplatted property.

Concerning this factual situation you have asked the following question:

QUESTION:

Does any platted parcel of land qualify as agricultural land for assessment purposes under the criteria of SDCL 10-6-31.1(3) regardless of its size if it is not attached to a working unit of 40 acres or more of unplatted land?

SDCL 10-6-31.3 states that land is agricultural if it meets two of the three criteria. The first is that at least one-third of the total family gross income is derived from production from the land or that the total value of the production from that land exceed $2,500 in three of the last five years. The second is that the land is devoted to the production of livestock, dairy animals and other farm or agricultural products or pursuits. The third is that the property parcel is not less than five acres of unplatted land.

The answer to your question is that the assessor must make a factual determination regarding whether the property meets any two of the three criteria. It is irrelevant whether the owner owns or leases other unplatted property if two of these conditions have been fulfilled. Attorney General's Official Opinion No. 79-43, which you have cited, states my position on this question.

Respectfully submitted,

ROGER A. TELLINGHUISEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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