The licence case
Licence suspension after a DUI arrest in South Dakota
The licence proceeding has its own deadlines. Check the applicable notice or order, not just the criminal court date.
Hearing-request deadline in South Dakota: The deadline depends on why your license is being taken away.
S.D. Codified Laws § 32-23-11 (opens in a new tab)The notice identifies your proceeding. Conditions below.
The window
- Deadline to request a hearing
- The deadline depends on why your license is being taken away.
- DPS notice: If your notice cites §32-12-49 or §32-12-49.4, your written hearing request must be postmarked—or received by fax—within 15 days after the date on the notice. Send the request to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS).
- Under-21 test refusal: If your license is being revoked because you refused a test after an arrest under South Dakota’s under-21 driving law, you have 120 days from the arrest to request a hearing.
- The 120-day deadline is only for that under-21 refusal process. It does not replace the 15-day deadline for the notices described above.
- Requesting a hearing does not, by itself, establish that you may keep driving. These license hearings are separate from your criminal case.
- Hearing procedure under the cited rule
- The hearing process depends on the type of license action.
- DPS notice: For a notice citing §32-12-49 or §32-12-49.4, send a written hearing request to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. A mailed request must be postmarked, or a faxed request received, within 15 days after the date on the notice. DPS then issues a hearing notice.
- Under-21 test refusal: If your license is being revoked for refusing a test after an arrest under South Dakota’s under-21 driving law, request a hearing within 120 days from the arrest. This is an administrative license hearing, separate from the criminal case.
- The mail-and-fax instructions above apply to the DPS notices described above. This answer does not assume that they also govern the separate under-21 process, or that an email or phone call is enough.
- A hearing request is not permission to drive. A criminal court date is not a substitute for the license-hearing process.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- Suspension length after a refusal
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
What happens if the window closes
The effect of a missed hearing-request deadline depends on the proceeding and the applicable law. This page does not determine whether review is still available or whether a particular licence restriction applies. A defence lawyer can review the notice or order and explain the available procedures.
Whether South Dakota offers a restricted licence in that situation, and on what conditions, is a state-specific question:
- Hardship or restricted licence
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- Ignition interlock, first offense
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
How the two cases relate
A licence restriction may arise from a test result, a refusal or a criminal conviction. Those are not interchangeable grounds. The source and conditions attached to each rule matter; this page does not predict how one proceeding will affect another in a particular case.
The two legal questions
The criminal charge and driving privileges can involve different proceedings. The notice, order and cited rule identify the applicable process.
Driving privileges
The licence case
- Forum
- The agency or court identified by the applicable licence proceeding
- Clock
- Check the applicable notice or order for the deadline and its starting event
- Deadline to request a hearing
- The deadline depends on why your license is being taken away.
- DPS notice: If your notice cites §32-12-49 or §32-12-49.4, your written hearing request must be postmarked—or received by fax—within 15 days after the date on the notice. Send the request to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS).
- Under-21 test refusal: If your license is being revoked because you refused a test after an arrest under South Dakota’s under-21 driving law, you have 120 days from the arrest to request a hearing.
- The 120-day deadline is only for that under-21 refusal process. It does not replace the 15-day deadline for the notices described above.
- Requesting a hearing does not, by itself, establish that you may keep driving. These license hearings are separate from your criminal case.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
Criminal charge
The criminal case
- Forum
- A criminal court
- Clock
- Check court notices and orders; no case duration is predicted here
- Alcohol-concentration threshold
- 0.08% or more by weight of alcohol in blood while driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle.
- The statute specifies chemical analysis of breath, blood or another bodily substance. It separately prohibits driving under the influence; the numeric threshold is not permission to drive while impaired.
- This is the general alcohol-concentration rule, not a separate rule for commercial drivers or drivers under 21.
- First-offense penalty rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.The cited rule may describe a range or a minimum with conditions, not a predicted sentence.