No person, except those expressly exempted in §§ 32-12-22.1 to 32-12-28, inclusive, may drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this state unless the person has a valid driver license under the provisions of this chapter. Any person convicted for a violation of this section is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
S.D. Codified Laws § 32-12-22
Prohibition against driving without license--Misdemeanor
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case State v. Spotted Horse (1990)
Most recently applied in State v. Langen (June 2021)
Source: SL 1953, ch 249, § 1; SL 1955, ch 187, § 1; SL 1959, ch 261, § 1; SDC Supp 1960, § 44.03B01 (1); SL 1976, ch 191; SL 2001, ch 171, § 26.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.