Weights and Measures

Welcome to the Weights and Measures website!

Our purpose is to promote equity between buyers and sellers in any South Dakota commercial transaction involving commodities sold by weight, measure, or count.  Applying uniform weights and measures standards to commercial transactions is one of the most important pillars of strong state and national economies.  It is accomplished by ensuring trust is built into every weights and measures transaction. 

The office of Weights and Measures maintains and enforces weights and measures laws, regulations, and standards.  We also safeguard standards provided by the federal government, which are calibrated annually to ensure uniformity across all 50 states.

Weights and Measures representatives conduct scheduled inspections of small and large capacity scales, pumps, and meters throughout the state.  We also investigate consumer complaints related to packaging, labeling, petroleum quality, and scanning devices.

This office provides oversight for those private service agencies involved in the installation, repair, or maintenance of weighing and measuring devices in the state.  We operate the South Dakota Metrology Laboratory located in Pierre, which maintains our reference standards and provides tolerance testing of selected state and industry standards.