Registered Nurse (RN) License Renewal in South Dakota
South Dakota RNs renew every 2 years with no CE required, only nursing practice hours. South Dakota is a Nurse Licensure Compact state.
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years |
|---|---|
| CE hours required | Check with your board South Dakota requires no continuing education for RN renewal. Competency is met by nursing practice: at least 140 hours in any 12-month period, or 480 hours in the preceding 6 years (ARSD 20:48:04.01). A nurse who can't verify the hours completes a Board-approved RN refresher course instead. |
| Renewal fee | $115.00 |
| Mandatory CE topics | None prescribed |
| Licensing board | South Dakota Board of Nursing (Department of Health) |
Sourced from South Dakota Board of Nursing (Department of Health), verified July 25, 2026. Requirements change. Confirm with your board before relying on this.
South Dakota measures a nurse’s currency the way a hospital would: not by how many classes you sat through, but by whether you’ve actually been nursing. There’s no continuing-education requirement to renew a registered-nurse license here. What the state wants is proof you’ve kept your hands in the work.
No CE, just practice hours
South Dakota requires no continuing education for RN renewal. Instead, you demonstrate continued competency through nursing practice hours: at least 140 hours in any 12-month period, or 480 hours over the preceding six years (ARSD 20:48:04.01). For a nurse working even part-time, either threshold is easy to clear, and no CE credits are owed on top.
Because there’s no hour target for education, the CE calculator on this site isn’t shown for South Dakota. You attest to your practice at renewal and keep records in case the Board asks.
The one path that costs real effort is coming back after a long absence: a nurse who can’t verify the practice hours completes a Board-approved RN refresher course, an 80-hour self-study theory portion plus 80 hours of supervised clinical practice, before renewing. So the rule is gentle for anyone currently working and demanding only for someone re-entering after years away.
The cycle
South Dakota renews RN licenses every two years. Renew through the Board’s online system before your expiration date, and keep whatever documents back up your practice attestation.
The fee
Renewal is $115, and the rule breaks it into three parts: ARSD 20:48:06:01(7) sets “$95 for biennial renewal of a license plus $10 which is designated to fund the nurses’ education assistance loan program, [and $10, which is designated to fund the nursing workforce center].” So two of your dollars per cycle are earmarked before they reach the Board’s own operations.
Those square brackets are in the rule as published, and South Dakota does not explain the convention on the page. Read literally the total is $115; if the bracketed component is not in force it is $105. The gap is small, but it is the Board’s portal rather than this page that will show you the figure you actually owe.
Across two years that puts South Dakota above North Carolina’s $100 and below Michigan’s $131. Let the license lapse and reinstatement adds $50 on top of the current renewal fee.
South Dakota is a compact state
South Dakota implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. If South Dakota is your primary state of residence, your RN license can be a multistate license, letting you practice in the other compact states without applying separately in each. That reaches into compact neighbors like Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Note that Minnesota, on the eastern border, is not a compact state. The privilege follows your legal residence, so it holds as long as South Dakota stays home. Use the compact checker below to see exactly which states a South Dakota license reaches.
Add your renewal deadline to your calendar
Enter your expiration date and download a calendar file. Your own calendar will remind you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days out. We don't ask for your email, we store nothing, and the date never leaves your device.
Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. This is a convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact deadline with the South Dakota Board of Nursing (Department of Health).
Renewal fee
South Dakota charges $115. The median across the 49 states that publish a figure is $100, running from $50 to $245. Ranked cheapest to dearest, South Dakota is 32 of 49.
Each mark is one state. The taller line is the median, the filled dot is South Dakota. States that set no flat hour count, or publish no fee, are left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
Where can you practice with your license?
The Nurse Licensure Compact lets a nurse who lives in a compact state hold one multistate license and practice in every other compact state. Pick where you live to see whether that's you, and where it reaches.
Member data from the NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map, verified July 2026. A multistate license requires the compact state to be your primary residence. This is a convenience, not legal advice. Confirm your status with your board or at nursecompact.com.
What will this renewal cost?
South Dakota's renewal fee is filled in from the board below. Add what you expect to spend on CE courses, plus a late fee if you're past due, for a running total. Nothing you type is stored.
The renewal fee is from the South Dakota Board of Nursing (Department of Health) and dated on this page; the CE and late-fee figures are your own estimates. A convenience, not a compliance service, and not legal advice. Confirm fees with your board.