Driving on Suspended License in South Dakota
The Charge and Its Penalties
Driving while your license is revoked is a Class 1 misdemeanor; driving while it is suspended or canceled is a Class 2 misdemeanor. A Class 1 misdemeanor carries up to $2,000 in fines and one year in county jail; a Class 2 misdemeanor carries up to $500 and 30 days.
If your license was revoked due to a DUI conviction and you're caught driving without a valid license or restricted permit, you face this charge on top of whatever your existing DUI sentence already includes. The suspended jail time from your DUI sentence can also be triggered — the judge may view driving on a revoked license as a probation violation and impose the incarceration that was originally suspended.
Can You Drive to Work After a DUI?
This depends entirely on your case status and whether you have a restricted permit:
Before conviction (if you took the test and failed): South Dakota does not impose an immediate pre-conviction license suspension for a failed chemical test. Your license remains valid until the court enters a conviction. So yes, you can drive to work — and everywhere else — during the pretrial period, assuming no other restrictions are in place.
Before conviction (if you refused the test): The officer confiscated your license and issued a temporary permit valid for 120 days. You can drive on the temporary permit during those 120 days. After that, if you haven't successfully contested the administrative revocation at a DPS hearing, your driving privileges are revoked for one year.
After conviction: The judge orders a license revocation of at least 30 days (up to one year). During the revocation period, you cannot legally drive at all unless the sentencing judge issues a restricted driving permit.
Restricted Permits
A restricted driving permit under SDCL 32-23-2 is your only legal option for driving during a post-conviction revocation period. The sentencing judge — and only the judge — has discretion to issue one. DPS cannot independently authorize a restricted permit for a court-ordered revocation.
The restricted permit limits driving to specific purposes:
- Employment (traveling to and from work)
- School
- Childcare obligations
- Medical appointments
- Court appearances
- Probation reporting
- 24/7 Sobriety Program testing
To get a restricted permit, you typically need:
- An SR-22 certificate of financial responsibility filed by your insurer with DPS
- An ignition interlock device installed in your vehicle (if the court requires it as a condition)
- Enrollment in the 24/7 Sobriety Program (mandatory if your BAC was 0.17% or higher)
The restricted permit does not cover personal errands, social activities, or general transportation. Driving outside the permitted purposes can lead to a separate violation and additional sanctions.
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The Refusal Revocation Complication
If you refused the chemical test, the administrative one-year revocation is handled by DPS, not the court. The authority to issue a restricted permit during a refusal revocation rests solely with the Secretary of Public Safety, subject to strict eligibility rules.
Under Administrative Rule 61:19:01:01, you are ineligible for a restricted permit during a refusal revocation if you have been convicted of a DUI or had your license revoked for a refusal within the preceding ten years. For a true first-time offender with no prior history, a restricted permit during the refusal period may be possible — but it's harder to obtain than a court-ordered restricted permit.
What to Do If You Need to Drive
If your license is currently revoked and you don't have a restricted permit, you have no legal option to drive. The consequences of getting caught are severe enough — new criminal charges, potential incarceration, extended revocation period — that no errand or commute is worth the risk.
If you haven't been sentenced yet, talk to your attorney about requesting a restricted permit as part of the sentencing order. If you've already been sentenced without one, you may be able to petition the court to modify your sentence to include a restricted permit, though this isn't guaranteed.
The South Dakota First-Offense DUI Guide covers the restricted permit application process, SR-22 requirements, and the complete reinstatement sequence for when your revocation period ends.
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