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South Dakota DUI Information
"Per Se" BAC Level: 0.8"Zero Tolerance" BAC Level: 0.2
Enhanced Penalty BAC Level:.17
"Implied Consent" Law: yes
Administrative License Suspension/Revocation (1st/2nd/3rd Offense) :30d/ 1y/ 1y
Mandatory Alcohol Education and Treatment/Assessment: No
Vehicle Confiscation Possible?: No
Ignition Interlock Device Possible?: No
South Dakota DUI / DWI convictions will result in a driver’s license suspension, as well as a variety of other consequences, including jail, fines, mandatory alcohol educational programs, increased auto insurance, and more. South Dakota driving while intoxicated driver’s license consequences include suspensions of 30 days for a first offense DUI / DWI, a one-year revocation for a second offense DUI / DWI, or the greater of a one-year revocation from sentence date or release from incarceration, whichever is longer, for a third-offense drunk driving conviction. Refusal to submit to a chemical test when lawfully requested by peace officer will result in a one-year suspension.
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South Dakota has a ten-year "washout" or "lookback" period for South Dakota DUI / DWI cases. This means that if a prior drunk driving offense occurred within 10 years of the current offense, the current offense will be considered a second-offense.
South Dakota DUI / DWI cases can be brought on the basis of either a traditional impairment theory, or on the violation of South Dakota’s per se law, making it a crime to drive with a BAC of .08% or greater.
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Traditional drunk driving cases relate to the condition of the driver. Impairment is generally proved by evidence of the driver's impaired driving pattern, physical appearance, performance on field sobriety tests, and chemical test results. In this instance, the chemical test results are used to show impairment, which forensically occurs at accepted alcohol levels.
South Dakota’s "per se" law makes it illegal to drive with a blood or breath alcohol level of .08% or higher. Prosecution of this type of case does not hinge on the driver being impaired; it is based solely on body chemistry. However, the critical inquiry is whether the person arrested for South Dakota DUI / DWI had an alcohol level of .08% or greater at the time they were driving, not whether they had a BAC of .08% or greater at the time of testing. BAC at the time of testing is only relevant to the extent that it allows the prosecutor (or defense) to look back and draw conclusions about what it should have been at the time they were behind the wheel.