Traffic School and Your Ticket Choices in South Dakota

First, the honest answer: no traffic school

If you have lived in Florida, California or Texas, you may know traffic school as something you sign up for to keep points off or have a citation dismissed. South Dakota never passed a law like that. The court system's public guidance on tickets walks through payment, extensions and court dates and does not mention a course at all.

So be wary of any website selling South Dakota traffic school that claims to remove a ticket. Before paying, phone the clerk's office for the county that issued it and ask whether the court will accept it. A certificate with no court order behind it changes nothing about your case or your record.

At court: the one-time suspended imposition

The nearest thing to dismissal is in SDCL 23A-27-12.2. Once you have pleaded or been found guilty of a misdemeanor, and if you consent, the judge can decline to enter a judgment of guilt and put you on probation with conditions of the court's choosing. Finish those conditions and SDCL 23A-27-14 leads to discharge and a dismissal with no guilty adjudication on file.

The cost is that you only get one, ever. A person who has already had a suspended imposition on a misdemeanor in South Dakota or in another state cannot get a second. Plenty of drivers would rather not burn it on a $117.50 speeding ticket and keep it in reserve in case something more serious ever happens.

Here is how that plays out. Say you are 22 and get a 6 to 10 mph over ticket. Paying costs $117.50 and leaves a conviction. Asking for a suspended imposition might keep the conviction off, but if you are charged with a misdemeanor at 30, that option will already be used.

If you hold a CDL

Commercial drivers are shut out of this. Under SDCL 32-12A-64, nothing may hide, defer or divert a traffic conviction for a person holding commercial driving privileges, whether a full CDL or a learner's permit. It does not matter whether you were in a truck or your own car, and every traffic law is covered except parking.

There are reporting duties too. Under SDCL 32-12A-4, a non-parking traffic conviction from another state must be reported to DPS within 30 days, and any such conviction must be reported in writing to your employer within 30 days. Two serious violations in a commercial vehicle within three years mean disqualification for at least 60 days.

Paying, contesting or buying time

When no appearance is needed, you may settle up for the printed amount before the citation's due date, by card through UJS ePay or however the ticket directs. Online payments start at $25 unless you owe less, and fresh cases sometimes need two weeks to reach the system.

To fight the ticket, appear on the listed date and plead not guilty. Later hearings follow and, eventually, a bench trial. Lose and want to appeal? SDCL 23A-32-15 usually allows 30 days from the filing of the signed judgment, so ask the clerk immediately which court hears it and when it is due. A missed court date or fine deadline can bring a warrant and is a separate reason for license suspension.

What tickets cost on the fiscal 2027 schedule

The FY27 Fine and Bond Schedule took over on July 1, 2026. Speeding on most roads runs from $97.50 total at 1 to 5 mph over up to $232.50 at 26 or more. Tickets in school zones and work zones cost more, as much as $386.50 in a work zone. Careless driving or blowing a stop sign totals $132.50; holding a phone while driving totals $178.50.

Every one of those totals has $78.50 of court costs built in, the standard charge on a Class 2 misdemeanor under state law. If paying all at once is not possible, ask the court for an extension or arrange installments through the clerk while there is still time, not once the date has passed.

When a course is still worth your time

There are three good reasons to take one anyway: a judge orders it as part of probation, your insurer gives a voluntary discount for it, or you are a new or anxious driver who wants the skills. DPS includes Alive at 25, a classroom program for drivers under 25, in its teen safety resources.

The guaranteed insurance discount for drivers 55 and older disappeared when the state repealed it in 2011, so discounts now depend on your insurer. Before you enroll, get the court or insurer to name the providers it takes, and hang on to the certificate.