The South Dakota Instruction Permit, Step by Step

Before you apply: is the permit the right starting point?

In South Dakota every new driver between 14 and 18 who holds no license yet begins with the instruction permit, as SDCL 32-12-11 lays out. Starting at 14 is among the youngest ages in the nation, and it reflects a rural state where teens drive to school, to jobs and to chores on the farm.

The permit is issued once you have passed every part of the exam except the road test and paid a fee matching the license fee in SDCL 32-12-16. The statute does not describe a separate permit for adults, so applicants 18 and older go directly to the license tests. An adult who wants practice first should check with DPS before driving on a public road.

Before you apply: the document folder

Think of it as three proofs: who you are, your Social Security number, and that you live at a South Dakota street address (two items for that last one). For most families that is the teen's birth certificate, the teen's Social Security card and two letters or bills addressed to a parent.

Two catches trip people up. A souvenir certificate from the hospital is not accepted; you need the certified copy from vital records. And if the Social Security card is missing, DPS takes a W-2, 1099 or pay stub that shows the name and the complete number instead.

Teens who are not U.S. citizens bring a Permanent Resident Card or Employment Authorization Card that has not expired, or an I-94 plus a valid foreign passport. Families who have just arrived should email [email protected] to confirm the parent's address documents will be accepted before making the trip.

• Identity: a certified U.S. birth certificate, a U.S. passport, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or a citizenship certificate
• Social Security: the card, a W-2, a 1099, or a pay stub with all nine digits
• Address: two items from the past year with the teen's or a parent's name and street address
• Consent: a parent or guardian in person, or the notarized Parental Consent Form

On test day: the eye check and the written exam

The written test pulls from the manual's material on signs, traffic laws and safe habits, and the pass line is 80 percent. The eye check happens during the same appointment. If your teen needs glasses or contacts to pass it, a corrective lens restriction goes on the permit and on every license after it.

SDCL 32-12-2 gives you three attempts for the $38 within six months, and a failed test cannot be retaken that same working day. A teen who has finished an approved drivers ed course, or just its classroom part, can skip the written test by presenting a signed certificate that is less than a year old.

A worked example: your daughter finishes the classroom part of a school program in May and you book the permit visit for August. Her certificate is three months old, so she takes only the eye test. If you waited until the following June, the certificate would be past a year and she would sit the written test like everyone else.

After you pass: what the permit allows

Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., your teen may drive when any licensed driver 18 or older with a year or more of experience is sitting in the front passenger seat. Overnight, the person in that seat must be a parent or guardian. There is no hour of the day when a permit holder may drive alone.

Phones are off the table. SDCL 32-12-11 bars permit holders from using any kind of wireless device while driving, hands free included, which is tighter than the rule for adults. Make it a family rule that the phone goes in the glove box until the full license arrives.

After you pass: how long you will hold it

On paper the permit is good for five years, but a card issued before age 21 expires 30 days after the 21st birthday. In practice your teen will move on much sooner: after at least 275 days, or 180 with an approved course, and once 50 supervised hours are logged, the restricted minor's permit is next.

Here is a timeline. A son who gets his permit on his 14th birthday, with no course, can apply for the restricted permit roughly nine months later if the hours are done and his record is clean. With a course, he can apply about six months in.

If something goes wrong: tickets and the permit

SDCL 32-12-15 issues permits on a probationary basis. For a driver under 16, a first Class 2 misdemeanor traffic conviction (or a matching city or county moving violation) or a first conviction for breaking a permit rule, such as driving without a supervisor, means 30 days without the permit.

A second conviction, a Class 1 misdemeanor or a felony raises that to 180 days or until the 16th birthday, whichever lasts longer. Any conviction also wipes out progress toward the next stage, because six months with a clean record are required before the upgrade.

Why older advice about South Dakota permits is wrong now

Three numbers have changed in recent years. For permits issued after July 1, 2020, the minimum hold went from 180 days to 275, and from 90 to 180 with drivers ed. That same change brought in the 50 hour supervised driving rule.

The fee climbed from $28 to $38 when lawmakers amended SDCL 32-12-16 in 2025, and the upgrade to the restricted permit now carries a fee where it used to be free. Some old guides also describe the permit as lasting one year; the current statute says five. When sources disagree, trust the DPS teen pamphlet dated effective 7/1/2025.