S.D. Codified Laws § 32-3-51

This is the official text of S.D. Codified Laws § 32-3-51, part of South Dakota’s Codified Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of South Dakota, published by the state as "Codified Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Dismantled or destroyed vehicle--Return of plates and title to department--Cancellation of registration--Consent of lien holder--Notation on certificate--Destruction of certificates--Retention of record--Removal of identification numbers as felony

Official statutory text

If a vehicle is permanently destroyed, crushed, or compacted so that it can no longer be used on the public highways or used for parts, the owner shall detach the registration plates and forward them, along with the registration card and certificate of title, within fifteen days, to the department. The department shall cancel the registration card and the title on its records. If the title shows any lien, the lien holder's consent to the cancellation shall be endorsed on the certificate of title. The certificate of title surrendered by the owner shall have noted thereon the purpose of cancellation and, in case of a transfer, the assignment on the reverse side shall be completed. The department shall destroy the certificate of title and other records pertaining thereto, but shall keep an appropriate record of all such vehicles destroyed, crushed, or compacted and denoting the name and address of the last owner thereof. The owner may not remove the vehicle's identification number or other identification numbers. Removal of the vehicle's identification number or other identification numbers is a Class 6 felony.

Source: SDC 1939, § 44.02 11-4 as enacted by SL 1965, ch 183; SL 1984, ch 217, § 3; SL 1985, ch 239, § 1; SL 1986, ch 242, § 30.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.