South Dakota

Plain-language summary

South Dakota's cooperative purchasing authority operates at multiple levels. At the constitutional level, S.D. Const. Article IX, Section 3 provides broad authority: 'Every local government may exercise, perform or transfer any of its powers or functions, including financing the same, jointly or in cooperation with any other governmental entities, either within or without the state, except as the Legislature shall provide otherwise by law.' At the statutory level, SDCL §§1-24-2 to 1-24-9 (the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act) permits two or more public agencies to enter into agreements for joint or cooperative action with appropriate action by each governing body. Within the procurement framework, SDCL §5-18A-37 specifically addresses cooperative purchasing: purchasing agencies may enter into agreements with purchasing agents in South Dakota or any other state or the United States government to participate in cooperative purchasing — including arrangements designed to 'establish regional or national cooperative purchasing transactions.' This language is broad enough to clearly encompass national cooperatives like OMNIA Partners and Region 14 ESC Texas. SDCL §5-18A-22 lists procurement exemptions including, in subdivision (17), purchases from contracts established through the Midwestern Higher Education Compact and similar multi-state cooperative frameworks. South Dakota's procurement chapter also separately addresses construction contracts (SDCL §§5-18A-43, 5-18A-44, and others), confirming that the chapter applies to construction.

Key requirements

• →Constitutional authority: S.D. Const. Article IX, Section 3 permits every local government to exercise powers jointly or in cooperation with other governmental entities, within or without the state.
• →Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (SDCL §§1-24-2 to 1-24-9): any two or more public agencies may enter agreements for joint or cooperative action.
• →Appropriate action by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise by each participating governing body is required before any cooperative agreement enters into force.
• →SDCL §5-18A-37: purchasing agencies may enter cooperative agreements with purchasing agents in South Dakota, any other state, or the federal government — including for regional or national cooperative purchasing transactions.
• →SDCL §5-18A-22 lists procurement exemptions including purchases from contracts established through the Midwestern Higher Education Compact and certain other cooperative frameworks.
• →Construction-specific provisions including SDCL §§5-18A-43 (prohibited terms in construction contracts) and 5-18A-44 (prohibited grant/abatement/credit conditions) confirm the procurement chapter applies to construction.
• →Public improvement contracts must comply with bonding requirements under SDCL Chapter 5-21 and applicable competitive bidding requirements under SDCL §5-18A-14.

Construction services

South Dakota's cooperative purchasing framework is broadly construction-friendly. SDCL §5-18A-37 explicitly authorizes purchasing agencies to enter cooperative purchasing arrangements with purchasing agents in any other state or the federal government, including 'regional or national cooperative purchasing transactions' — language that clearly encompasses national cooperatives like OMNIA Partners and Region 14 ESC Texas. The constitutional foundation in S.D. Const. Article IX, Section 3 supports cooperation 'within or without the state' for any local government power or function. The Public Agency Procurement chapter (5-18A) separately addresses construction contracts in several provisions (including §§5-18A-43, 5-18A-44), confirming that construction is within the chapter's scope rather than being carved out. Public improvement contracts must continue to comply with applicable bonding requirements under SDCL Chapter 5-21 and competitive bidding requirements under §5-18A-14. South Dakota public agencies considering cooperative construction procurement should verify with counsel that the underlying cooperative contract was competitively awarded and that any applicable public improvement bonding requirements are satisfied.