Pennington County Provides Update on County Services During Cybersecurity Response

Updated on August 5, 2026

As Pennington County continues responding to the recent cybersecurity incident, County departments are finding innovative ways to continue serving the public. All County offices remain open and operational, although there are a few services that remain limited, and processing times may be longer than usual as systems are safely restored.

Please note: County email remains unavailable; however, County phone lines are operational.

Treasurer's Office

Motor Vehicle 

• The Treasurer's Office is processing all motor vehicle transactions and accepting all forms of payment.
• The queue system will be reevaluated once both the motor vehicle and real estate systems are fully operational. Until then, customers will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.
• With the exception of title transfers, South Dakota driver's license holders can use the self-service kiosks for eligible motor vehicle registrations and other transactions. These services remain fully operational and can help reduce wait times. You can find the kiosk locations here.
• South Dakota residents can also use the state's online portal, My605Drive.sd.gov, for eligible motor vehicle transactions, with the exception of title transfers.

Real Estate

• The Pennington County Real Estate program remains unavailable at this time. While we do not have an estimated timeline for restoration, restoring this system remains one of our highest priorities. We appreciate the public's patience as our teams continue working to bring it back online safely and securely.

Auditor's Office

• The office is currently unable to process lien payments.

Register of Deeds

• The Register of Deeds Office is now processing requests for vital records. Records also remain available online through VitalChek.com or by calling 605-773-4961.
• The office is accepting real estate recordings; however, those documents cannot be fully processed until systems are restored.

Planning & Zoning

• The department continues providing its normal services, although some processes may take longer than usual.

Equalization

• The department continues to provide its normal services and can answer most questions from the public.
• The department is unable to access Property Record Cards, limiting specific information for properties, but most questions are able to be answered.

Board of Commissioners

• County Commission meetings will continue as scheduled.
• Meetings are now being live-streamed; however, the quality of the stream may suffer due to technology limitations. They will also be recorded and posted as soon as systems allow.

4H

• Phone lines are currently down.
• To contact the 4H office, you can email Pennington.County@SDState.edu.

County Information Technology staff, together with state and federal partners, continue to make progress in the investigation and remediation effort. Because the investigation remains active, we cannot comment on specific technical details. While we understand the public's desire for additional information, protecting the integrity of the investigation remains a priority. We appreciate the patience and understanding of our residents, as well as the extraordinary efforts and flexibility of County employees throughout this response.

At this time, no action is required from members of the public. If the investigation determines that protected personal information was affected, impacted individuals will be notified directly.

Media Contact:

Katy Urban
Public Information Officer
Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office