New License Plate Available for South Dakota Vehicles

In South Dakota, we have a love of the outdoors that is about as intense as anywhere in America.

And now you can show off that adoration every time you get behind the wheel.

Governor Larry Rhoden and South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks have unveiled the Habitat Conservation License Plate, which is available now for drivers to show their support of habitat conservation across the state.

State of South Dakota

Habitat Conservation License Plates can be obtained at local courthouses, for no additional charge, when renewing your existing vehicle registration. Like other specialty license plates, the plate is valid for three years.

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Once your habitat conservation license plate arrives, you can select between four approved habitat decals to display on the license plate:

Deer
Meadowlark
Pasque Flower
Pheasant

Habitat decals are $50 for a set of two and can be purchased online at Go Outdoors South Dakota or at any Game, Fish, and Parks office.

30 Ways You Might Have Already Broken the Law Today

Most of us try the best we can to be law-abiding citizens, but did you know that you may have been breaking the law without even realizing it?

BestLifeOnline has a list of 30 of the most common transgressions. How many have you been guilty of over the years?

Out of 30, I am guilty of 19. And no I won't tell you which ones.

Gallery Credit: Jeff Harkness/B1027.com

What Did South Dakota's License Plate Look Like the Year You Were Born?

The first number on a South Dakota license plate is the county that the car is registered. For example, Pennington county where Rapid City is has a '2' starting its plates. In Sioux Falls you have either a '1' or a '44' depending on your relationship to 57th street.

When established in 1956 (and revised in 1987) the first nine counties were ordered by population. Starting with 10 they are in alphabetical order through Ziebach, with Oglala Lakota County (65) and Todd (67) rounding out the list.

Today the top 10 plate numbers and populations don't correlate anymore. 1 and 2 are still 1 and 2, but Lincoln (44) is now 3rd in population. Beadle is 4 but it's now 11th in population. See the list by population here.

On January 1, 2023, South Dakota started issuing a new license plate design for license plates.

So, let's take a look back at what South Dakota license plates looked like over the last 100 years.

Gallery Credit: Ben Kuhns

Why Are There So Many South Dakota License Plates in Mexico?

An odd thing that's puzzled folks vacationing in Mexico is that there seems to be an abundance of South Dakota license plates. In fact, there are so many, it doesn't make sense.

Gallery Credit: Andy Gott

Categories: Articles, News, Newsletter, Sioux Falls, South Dakota