How to Apply for a Concealed Carry Permit in South Dakota

You apply at the sheriff's office in the county where you live

SDCL 23-7-7 provides that a permit "must be issued to any applicant by the sheriff of the county in which the applicant resides," that it is valid throughout the state, and that it issues pursuant to SDCL 23-7-7.1. Before issuing, the sheriff "shall execute, and the applicant shall pass, a background investigation, including a computer check of available on-line records and a check utilizing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System." A permit to carry a concealed pistol is valid for five years from the date of issuance (SDCL 23-7-8.2).

What the application form itself has to contain

SDCL 23-7-8 covers the form for all three permits. It is filed "either electronically or in triplicate on a form prescribed by the secretary of state," and it must require:

• Complete name, address, and occupation
• Place and date of birth, and country of citizenship
• A physical description
• A statement that you have never pled guilty to, nolo contendere to, or been convicted of a crime of violence
• A sworn statement that the information on the application is true and correct
• Your signature
• If you are not a United States citizen, any alien or admission number issued by the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

That is all SDCL 23-7-8 requires the form to collect. A county checklist can be longer, so treat the sheriff's office as the authority on what to bring and the statute as the authority on what the law requires.

Filed in triplicate, the original is "delivered to the applicant as the temporary permit," the duplicate goes "within seven days" by first class mail to the secretary of state, "who shall issue the official permit," and the triplicate is preserved for five years by the issuing authority. Filed electronically, two signed copies are made, one going to you as the temporary permit and one preserved for five years. SDCL 23-7-8.10 bars any state agency or political subdivision, and their officials, agents, and employees, from knowingly releasing or permitting access to any application, list, record, or registry of applicants or holders of permits to carry a concealed pistol, except to another law enforcement agency or the secretary of state, and SDCL 23-7-8.7 makes the preserved triplicate an exception to the no-registry rule in SDCL 23-7-8.6.

The regular permit: ten criteria and a five-day clock

SDCL 23-7-7.1 requires the sheriff to issue a temporary permit "within five days of application" if you:

1. Are eighteen years of age or older
2. Have never pled guilty to, nolo contendere to, or been convicted of a felony or a crime of violence (defined at SDCL 22-1-2(9))
3. Are not habitually in an intoxicated or drugged condition
4. Have no history of violence
5. Have not been found in the previous ten years to be a danger to others or a danger to self as defined in SDCL 27A-1-1, or are not currently adjudged mentally incompetent
6. Have physically resided in and are a resident of the county where the application is being made for at least thirty days immediately preceding the date of the application
7. Have had no violation of chapter 23-7, 22-14, or 22-42 constituting a felony or misdemeanor in the five years preceding the date of application, or are not currently charged under indictment or information for such an offense
8. Are a citizen or legal resident of the United States
9. Are not a fugitive from justice
10. Are not otherwise prohibited by state law, by 18 U.S.C. 922(g) as amended to October 26, 2005, or by 18 U.S.C. 922(n) as amended to October 26, 2005, from receiving, possessing or transporting a firearm, and pass a National Instant Criminal Background Check

Two statutes bend those rules. Under SDCL 23-7-7.5, active duty military personnel and their spouses with a home of record in South Dakota are considered to have met subdivision (6). Where the background investigation requires an international criminal history check through INTERPOL, SDCL 23-7-7.6 displaces the five-day rule: the sheriff issues the temporary permit "within three business days of receiving a response from INTERPOL" if the applicant otherwise qualifies.

The Secretary of State issues the permanent card

The temporary permit is the sheriff's document; the official permit is the Secretary of State's. SDCL 23-7-8.1 requires each permit to list the holder's name, address, expiration date, and issuance date, and requires enhanced and gold card permits to say on their face which one they are.

The Secretary of State's application page describes the seven-day step as a copy of the temporary permit sent after issuance, which reads differently from the statute's text about the duplicate application. The Minnehaha County sheriff separately tells applicants the card arrives from Pierre within 30 days. That is county guidance about practice; no statute in chapter 23-7 fixes a delivery time for the permanent card.

Enhanced permits add fingerprints and a course

SDCL 23-7-53 requires an enhanced applicant to file with the same county sheriff an application including a copy of the applicant's fingerprints for FBI submission "for a state, national, and international criminal background check," an authorization to run a fingerprint background check, and proof of either a qualifying handgun course under SDCL 23-7-58 completed within the preceding twelve months, or current or former law enforcement status with a qualification in that period on a certified shooting course administered by a firearms instructor approved by the Law Enforcement Officers Standards Commission. If the sheriff takes the fingerprints, "the sheriff shall secure the fingerprints at no additional charge to the applicant." The sheriff forwards the fingerprints, the authorization, and the payment to the Division of Criminal Investigation. Course content belongs to the training section; costs to the fees section.

Under SDCL 23-7-54 the sheriff holds the application until the results come back, files it with the secretary of state within seven days of confirmation that the applicant passed each check, and issues a temporary enhanced permit "within thirty days of application" to an applicant who also meets SDCL 23-7-7.1, is not prohibited by state law or by 18 U.S.C. 922(g) or 922(n) as amended to October 26, 2005, and passes both the fingerprint background check and NICS. The temporary permit must clearly designate that it is enhanced. An enhanced permit runs five years and, per SDCL 23-7-55, "is only valid if carried with a government issued form of identification that includes a picture of the permit holder."

SDCL 23-7-54.2 sets the enhanced age floor at twenty-one and creates the restricted enhanced permit: an applicant aged eighteen to twenty who meets SDCL 23-7-53 and 23-7-54 and any other specified requirements, on approval of the sheriff, "shall be issued a temporary restricted enhanced permit" designated for that age band. On turning twenty-one, a holder of an unexpired restricted enhanced permit may request an unrestricted enhanced permit from the secretary of state in writing, issued at no additional cost (SDCL 23-7-54.4).

Gold card permits: fingerprints without the course

SDCL 23-7-60 requires a gold card applicant to submit to the sheriff a copy of fingerprints for the same state, national, and international background check, plus an authorization to run a criminal background check, which the sheriff forwards to the Division of Criminal Investigation. Unlike SDCL 23-7-53, this section names no handgun course, carries no clause requiring a sheriff who takes the fingerprints to secure them at no additional charge, and does not mention forwarding a payment. SDCL 23-7-61 then mirrors SDCL 23-7-54: the sheriff holds the file, files it with the secretary of state within seven days of confirmation, and issues a temporary gold card permit "within thirty days of application," clearly designated as such. SDCL 23-7-63 sets the term at five years.

Renewal windows differ by permit type

All three renew through the sheriff of the county where you reside.

• Regular: the window begins ninety days before expiration, and the holder must pass the SDCL 23-7-7 background investigation, meaning the online records check and NICS (SDCL 23-7-8.11).
• Enhanced: the window "begins twelve months before the permit expires and ends thirty days after the permit expires." You pass the online records check and NICS, and show either that during the window you completed the live fire component of a qualifying handgun course, received use of force instruction and instruction on relevant criminal statutory changes, or that you are a current or former law enforcement officer who qualified on an approved shooting course within the twelve months before expiration. Miss the window and "the permit is deemed to be invalid," requiring a fresh SDCL 23-7-53 application (SDCL 23-7-56).
• Gold card: the window begins one hundred eighty days before expiration and ends thirty days after, on the same online records check and NICS (SDCL 23-7-62).

The statutes do not say whether a restricted enhanced permit can be renewed under SDCL 23-7-56; SDCL 23-7-54.1 and 23-7-54.3 are repealed, and the only route chapter 23-7 supplies is the SDCL 23-7-54.4 conversion at twenty-one, so ask the issuing sheriff's office.

SDCL 23-7-8.13 gives every chapter 23-7 permit holder a thirty-day grace period after expiration, during which the holder may continue to carry a concealed pistol. SDCL 23-7-8.14 withholds that grace from a holder who committed a crime that would make gun ownership or possession unlawful, or who applied to renew and was denied for an SDCL 23-7-7.1 reason.

Under SDCL 23-7-8.12, a South Dakota resident who is a member of a state National Guard unit, the Armed Forces, or the Armed Forces Reserves and whose regular permit expires during an active duty military assignment or deployment outside the state may request a renewal form from the Secretary of State and mail it, with deployment documentation, a commanding officer's affidavit, and a copy of a current photo ID, to the sheriff of the county of residence. The sheriff runs the background investigation within five days of receipt, and the ink signature on the form serves as the temporary permit signature.

Denials, revocation, and getting a permit back

A person denied a permit "may appeal to the circuit court pursuant to chapter 1-26" (SDCL 23-7-7.1). SDCL 23-7-7.1 sets no filing steps or deadlines of its own, so read chapter 1-26 or ask the clerk of the circuit court rather than assuming one.

Revocation runs on two tracks. SDCL 23-7-8.4 lets a prosecuting attorney, on a law enforcement officer's application, ask the circuit court for an order to show cause why a person's permit to carry a concealed pistol should not be revoked; after a hearing and an order, the holder surrenders it to the sheriff of the county of residence. Unless otherwise specified, SDCL 23-7-57 extends the chapter's references, rights, and responsibilities for a permit to carry a concealed pistol to enhanced and gold card permits, so that track is not limited to the regular permit. Enhanced and gold card permits are separately "automatically revoked" on failure to maintain the SDCL 23-7-7.1 requirements, or on becoming prohibited by state law, or by 18 U.S.C. 922(g) or 922(n) as amended to October 26, 2005, from receiving, possessing, or transporting a firearm, and the holder must immediately return the card to the county sheriff (SDCL 23-7-64). Where a conviction triggers that automatic revocation, SDCL 23-7-66 requires the convicting court to order the surrender to the court of all gold card and enhanced permits the person holds and to forward them to the sheriff of the defendant's county of residence. SDCL 23-7-64 also lets a gold card or enhanced permit holder whose permit has been secured by law enforcement under that section petition the circuit court for its return, if the holder believes it was unlawfully secured. Possessing or presenting a revoked enhanced or gold card permit while ineligible is a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 23-7-65), as is refusing to surrender one on lawful demand (SDCL 23-7-67). Under SDCL 22-6-2 that means up to one year in county jail or a two thousand dollar fine, or both.

Lying on the application is a Class 6 felony

SDCL 23-7-12 makes it an offense for any person, "in purchasing or otherwise securing delivery of a pistol or in applying for a permit to carry a concealed pistol," to give false information or offer false evidence of identity. A violation is a Class 6 felony, which under SDCL 22-6-1(9) authorizes two years imprisonment in a state correctional facility or a four thousand dollar fine, or both. This is the only false-statement offense in chapter 23-7.

The Secretary of State's application page and the Pennington County sheriff's page both describe this offense as carrying a two thousand dollar fine. The statute controls.

Changing your name or address

SDCL 23-7-69 requires a permit holder to keep the permit current by notifying the secretary of state in writing of a name change due to marriage or court order, or a change of physical address. If the new address is in South Dakota, the secretary of state must provide a new permit. The section also allows a permit showing an out-of-state address in two situations: an active duty service member or spouse with a South Dakota home of record, and a holder living in South Dakota whose official postal address is in a bordering county of another state. The Secretary of State's replacement page takes these requests by mail at 500 East Capitol Ave, Pierre, SD 57501 or by email to pistolpermit@state.sd.us.

Where agency and county pages disagree with the statute

Minnehaha County attributes enhanced permit requirements to SDCL 23-7-7.3, the attorney general's reciprocity comparison statute, and the restricted enhanced permit to the repealed SDCL 23-7-7.4; the current authorities are SDCL 23-7-53 and SDCL 23-7-54.2. That page also lists a 180-day enhanced renewal window, while SDCL 23-7-56 sets twelve months. Pennington County states a four-year permit term, while SDCL 23-7-8.2, 23-7-55, and 23-7-63 all set five years.

The Secretary of State's FAQ says it is "ultimately up to the sheriff's office whether or not they should issue you a concealed carry permit." SDCL 23-7-7 says a permit "must be issued to any applicant" meeting SDCL 23-7-7.1, and a denied applicant has an appeal to circuit court. Where an agency page and the statute diverge, apply the statute and raise the discrepancy with the office handling your application.