The South Dakota State Archives is the official repository for state government records, including the governor's office, legislature, court system, state agencies, boards and commissions. The State Archives also holds records from county and other local government offices, as well as manuscript collections from private donors, and an impressive collection of South Dakota newspapers on microfilm. These records are available to the public in our research room. A few collections are available on the South Dakota Digital Archives, along with over 50,000 photographs from our holdings.

Records containing private information about individuals (such as social security numbers or health information) may be restricted from public access.

Holdings related to the history of medicine include records of the South Dakota Department of Health, State Board of Health publications and reports, licensure and certification files, medical facility files, and vital statistics.