How it works in South Dakota

The steps

1. Get fingerprinted

   The Division of Criminal Investigation's personal record check is fingerprint-based. You can mail a fingerprint card, or have your fingerprints taken at a Livescan machine in South Dakota. For Livescan, fill out the request form in Step 2 first and bring its receipt. An appointment is most likely necessary. Have your fingerprints taken within 10 days, or you may need to request and pay again. Ask the Livescan location about its own fee.

   Fingerprint fee: $25.00 — The Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office's fee for public fingerprinting in Sioux Falls, by appointment; it includes up to five fingerprint cards, and each card after that is $5.00. The Attorney General's page says other fingerprinting fees may apply.

2. Request your record

   Request a copy of your South Dakota criminal history record from the Division of Criminal Investigation. Choose the personal, state-only background check on its request form. You can pay by credit card or bank account, and the Division does not offer refunds. By mail, follow the Division's instructions for paying by check or money order. For Livescan, print the receipt and take it with you.

   Record request fee: $30.00 — a personal, state-only background check; the Division of Criminal Investigation does not offer refunds

3. Review your record

   Find the arrest you want to expunge. Note the arrest date, the charges and your legal ground for expungement; the motion asks for each. If something is wrong, follow the process to challenge it. If everything is accurate, make a copy for your file and keep the original somewhere safe.

4. Request copies of your documents

   Collect a copy of the papers that show your ground. The court's instructions name them. If no accusatory instrument was filed, get a copy of the record of arrest. After a dismissal, get a copy of the filings dismissing the case. After an acquittal, get a copy of the Judgment of Acquittal. The clerk of courts that handled the case has the court papers, and the arresting agency has the arrest record.

5. Verify the final documents

   Review each document for accuracy. Confirm each one shows the arrest, the dismissal or the acquittal your motion relies on. Make copies of every original.

6. Prepare your motion

   Fill out the Motion for Expungement (UJS-391A) and the Case Filing Statement (UJS-232). Under SDCL § 23A-3-27, when you can apply depends on how the case ended. You can apply one year after the arrest if no accusatory instrument was filed. You can apply one year after the prosecuting attorney formally dismisses the entire criminal case on the record. You can apply at any time after an acquittal. To apply within that year after a dismissal, you must show compelling necessity. Under SDCL § 23A-3-33, an order can cover an arrest from before or after July 1, 2010, and there is no statute of limitation for applying.

7. Finalize your motion

   Put the completed motion and Case Filing Statement from Step 6 together with the documents from Step 4 and the record from Step 2. Double-check every page, and keep a copy of the complete package for your own file.

8. File your expungement motion

   File the motion and the Case Filing Statement with the clerk of courts in the county where your arrest record or case is filed. Under SDCL § 23A-3-27, the motion goes to the court that would have jurisdiction over the crime you were arrested for. The motion starts a new civil action, one for each arrest record. Under SDCL § 23A-3-28, you pay the clerk of courts a fee equal to the filing fee for a civil action. If you show the court you are indigent and unable to pay, it may waive the filing fee. Serve a copy of the motion on the prosecuting attorney's office at least fourteen days before any hearing. That is the office that prosecuted the crime or violation, or that had authority to prosecute the charge if no accusatory instrument was filed. The court's instructions say to mail it with an Admission of Service (UJS-391B) and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Then file a Statement of Mailing (UJS-391C), and file the signed Admission of Service when it comes back.

   Filing fee: $72.00 — a $25.00 filing fee, a $40.00 court automation surcharge and a $7.00 law library fee, paid to the clerk of courts in the county where you file; under SDCL 23A-3-28 the court may waive the filing fee if you show you are indigent and unable to pay

9. Work with the court

   Under SDCL § 23A-3-29, the court may set a hearing on the motion unless you, the prosecuting attorney and the victim waive it. The court may require affidavits and any evidence it deems proper. The prosecuting attorney may contest the motion in writing and at the hearing. For a hearing, the court's instructions say to arrange it with the clerk of courts and file a Notice of Hearing (UJS-393). The motion and the notice must reach the state's attorney at least fourteen days before the hearing. Bring a blank Order on Motion for Expungement (UJS-394) to the hearing, and copies of any evidence for the court, the state's attorney and yourself. To waive the hearing, file a Waiver of Hearing (UJS-392) signed by you, the state's attorney and the victim, if there was one. The forms page says the waiver must be notarized. Once every waiver is filed, give the clerk the Order on Motion for Expungement (UJS-394). If the state's attorney or the victim does not sign, ask for a hearing instead.

10. Receive the court's order

    Under SDCL § 23A-3-30, the court may enter an order of expungement. You must show, by clear and convincing evidence, that the order serves the ends of justice. It must also serve the best interest of the public as well as your own. Whether or not there was a hearing, the court enters an order granting or denying the motion. Once the judge signs it and the clerk files it, file a Notice of Entry of Order of Expungement (UJS-395). Mail a copy of it and of the order to the state's attorney, then file a Statement of Mailing. Keep a certified copy of the order for your own files.

    Certified copy fee: $15.00 — an authenticated copy; since July 1, 2026 the clerk's schedule lists no separate certified-copy fee

11. Verify the record is sealed

    Under SDCL § 23A-3-31, the order is reported to the Division of Criminal Investigation. The court sends the Division a nonpublic record of disposition. The Division keeps it only for law enforcement agencies, prosecuting attorneys and courts sentencing you for later offenses. The court orders every other official record sealed, including the records of your arrest, detention, indictment or information, trial and disposition. Under SDCL § 23A-3-26, expungement does not imply the physical destruction of records. Under SDCL § 23A-3-32, the order restores you to the status you held before the arrest, indictment or information. If you are asked about the arrest, no law can hold you guilty of perjury or a false statement for leaving it out. That covers the indictment or information and the trial too, whatever the purpose of the inquiry. Confirm with the clerk of courts and the arresting agency that their records reflect the order. If a background-check provider later shows an outdated report, your certified copy of the order is your proof.

If you have to mail anything, remember to keep a copy of whatever you send and to use a method with a tracking number like the USPS Flat Rate Envelope.