South Dakota Banned License Plates

Got a new car? Just moved to the state of South Dakota and need a new license plate? Anyway, we know that you are looking forward to finding some detailed information on South Dakota license plates. And here, we will talk about regulations on vanity plates and South Dakota banned license plates. So please, continue reading to know everything before applying for a license plate.

How does the state administer the usage of license plates?

As you know, the State of South Dakota allows using vanity plates on your vehicles. So, the vanity plates (or license plates) are unique and special combinations of your vehicle license. As in the other states (you can read about Alaska banned license plates or Oregon banned license plates, for example), the state regulates the whole process of license plates. By that, we mean everything from application processing and reviewing the license plate combinations to allowing them and making the plates.

Thus, the Motor Vehicle Division of South Dakota is the body that administers the process we have mentioned above. The Motor Vehicle Division of South Dakota allows you to use personalized plates if you are a resident of the state. Consequently, you will need proof of your residency. However, you can use personalized plates only for non-commercial passenger vehicles, motor homes, and motorcycles.

What are common reasons for South Dakota license plates rejection?

Personalizing your vehicle is a great idea indeed. However, not everyone uses license plates properly. For example, some citizens apply for license plates with combinations that have poor or offensive meaning or lead to misunderstanding. That is why the state of South Dakota has a few regulations that you must follow when personalizing your license plate. Here are some cases of why South Dakota banned license plates before.

• First, your license plate combination cannot contain special characters, such as $, %, ^, &, @, #, etc.
• You cannot use a license plate that was issued before.
• Then, the license plate must not contain vulgar, profane, obscene, offensive, and poor vocabulary. It means that even if you try to hide bad words in your combination by changing “O” to “0”, “A” to “4”, “1” to “I” etc., the Motor Vehicle Division staff will find it out. They use a lot of resources to make sure you did not mean anything bad.
• Your license plate combination must not be offensive to any group of people. It cannot be disrespectful of religion, race, nation, gender, political affiliation, sexual orientation, color, etc.
• If your license plate combination is about promoting and/or encouraging violence, drugs, alcohol, illegal and unlawful activities, it will not be accepted by the MVD.
• In case your license plate leads people or police to misunderstand, the MVD will refuse the issuance. It applies also to cases when the license plate combination can create difficulties for the police while writing a ticket.
• Confusing combinations are not acceptable as well.

Please note that all these points work for foreign languages as well. That is why the MVD committees are usually multilingual.

Do South Dakota license plates cost money?

At this point, you must pay $25 as an annual cost for a personalized license plate, plus a regular license plate fee.