South Dakota Protections Against Paid Claim Assistance

Senate Bill 1238 of 2025 added 33A-2-37 to 33A-2-42, which regulate anyone who takes money to advise, assist or consult on a veterans' benefits matter. A veterans' benefits matter is defined broadly: the preparation, presentation or prosecution of any claim affecting an individual who has filed or expressed an intent to file a claim for any benefit, entitlement, program, service or status under laws administered by the federal or the state Department of Veterans Affairs. Before rendering the service, the person must disclose the terms and the compensation in a written agreement signed by both parties, and keep a copy for one year after the service ends. In an easily identifiable place in that agreement they must disclose four things: that they are not sponsored by or affiliated with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, or any federally chartered veterans' service organisation; that other organisations may provide the same service free of charge; that their products or services are not necessarily endorsed by any veterans' organisation; and that the individual may qualify for other veterans' benefits beyond those offered. Section 33A-2-39 then sets the hard rules. No initial fee and no nonrefundable fee. No guarantee, direct or implied, of a successful outcome, of receiving a specific benefit, or of receiving a level, percentage or amount of benefit. No compensation for a service on a claim filed within the one-year presumptive period after release from active duty, unless the individual signs a waiver stating that they are inside that period and have chosen to deny the free services available to them. No international call centres or data centres for processing veterans' personal information, and no use of a veteran's own log-in, username or password to reach their medical, financial or government benefits information. The fee cap is the operative limit. Any compensation must be contingent on an increase in the benefit awarded and may not exceed five times the monthly increase in benefits awarded based on the claim. A rating that moves a veteran up by four hundred dollars a month supports a fee of at most two thousand dollars, payable only if the increase happens. And no one may be paid for referring a veteran to someone else for help with a benefits matter, which closes the lead-generation model. Section 33A-2-40 requires anyone authorised to access veterans' medical or financial information to pass a background check by a reputable source including identity verification and a criminal records check. Enforcement is by the attorney general under 33A-2-41, with a civil penalty of up to five thousand dollars per violation, deposited into the veterans affairs department special revenue fund. There is no express private right of action. Section 33A-2-42 keeps the chapter clear of agents, attorneys and representatives accredited or regulated by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, whose fees are governed by 38 C.F.R. and who are not touched by these sections. The free alternative the disclosure has to point at is real and is in the same title: 33A-1-13 requires the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs to act as the agent of any veteran, Guard or reserve member and any dependent with a claim against the United States arising from service, and to prosecute the claim without charge. Every county has a veterans service officer under 33A-1-22 and tribes may appoint their own under 33A-1-29.