Getting caught with a fake ID in South Dakota is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The maximum sentence is one year in county jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.1South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 22-6-2 – Misdemeanor Classes and Penalties – Restitution – Misdemeanor When No Penalty Imposed If you made the card yourself or knew the one you were carrying was forged, the charge can escalate to a felony with years of prison time on the table.
What Counts as a Fake ID
The state does not care whether the card is a slick counterfeit, a altered real license, or your older cousin’s ID that you borrowed for the night. All of it is criminal, and all of it carries the same Class 1 misdemeanor classification.
Possessing or displaying a fictitious, canceled, revoked, suspended, or fraudulently altered driver’s license violates SDCL 32-12-67.2South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-67 – Possession of Revoked or Altered License – Misdemeanor The same rule applies to nondriver identification cards under SDCL 32-12-17.3.3South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-17.3 – Display or Possession of Canceled, Fictitious or Fraudulently Altered Nondriver Identification Card – Misdemeanor Representing someone else’s license as your own is a separate crime under SDCL 32-12-70.4South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-70 – Displaying Another’s License – Misdemeanor So is lending your real license to someone who intends to misuse it. And if you lied on a license application, SDCL 32-12-75.1 adds a mandatory minimum 60-day license suspension on top of the criminal penalty.5South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-75.1 – False Statement to Obtain License – Misdemeanor
Each of these is a standalone offense. A single incident can produce more than one charge.
The Penalty You Actually Face
A Class 1 misdemeanor conviction tops out at one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Courts can tack on restitution and mandatory surcharges, which push the real financial cost higher than the fine alone suggests.
First-time offenders, particularly minors caught trying to buy alcohol, often get a suspended jail sentence or probation instead of active time. That is not guaranteed. Judges have full discretion to impose the maximum, and prosecutors tend to treat fake-ID cases seriously because they are tied to underage drinking and the liability it creates for bars and stores.
The jail time and fine are not the longest-lasting part. A conviction creates a permanent criminal record that shows up on background checks for jobs, apartments, and graduate school. Because the underlying conduct involves dishonesty, it reads worse than many other misdemeanors. Fields that run character evaluations — law, finance, healthcare, education — notice.
When It Becomes a Felony
South Dakota treats the person who made the card very differently from the person who flashed it. Falsely making, completing, or altering any written instrument with intent to defraud is forgery under SDCL 22-39-36, a Class 5 felony.6South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 22-39-36 – Forgery – Felony Class 5 felonies carry up to five years in a state correctional facility and a fine of up to $10,000.7South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 22-6-1 – Felony Classes and Penalties – Restitution – Habitual Criminal Sentences
Possessing a forged document while knowing it is forged is a separate Class 6 felony under SDCL 22-39-38, carrying up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.7South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 22-6-1 – Felony Classes and Penalties – Restitution – Habitual Criminal Sentences This is the statute that can reach a buyer who ordered a counterfeit online and received it knowing exactly what it was. Whether a case is charged as a Class 1 misdemeanor or a Class 6 felony often comes down to what the prosecution can prove about what you knew.
A felony record carries weight that a misdemeanor does not: loss of voting rights during incarceration, potential firearm restrictions, and a far heavier mark on background checks for the rest of your life.
Losing Your Driver’s License
The criminal case is only half the picture. The South Dakota Department of Public Safety can suspend or revoke your driving privileges administratively based on a fake-ID conviction. SDCL 32-12-49 lists convictions under the fake-ID statutes as independent grounds for suspension or revocation, separate from anything the criminal court orders.8South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-49 – Suspension, Revocation or Cancellation After Opportunity for Hearing – Grounds – Old Offenses Not Considered – Rules
If the conviction was for lying on a license application, the 60-day suspension is mandatory and the court cannot shorten it.5South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 32-12-75.1 – False Statement to Obtain License – Misdemeanor For other fake-ID convictions, the Department sets the length after offering you a hearing. Getting your license back means paying a reinstatement fee plus the standard application fee, and after a revocation you have to pass vision and knowledge tests before a new license is issued.9South Dakota Department of Public Safety. Revoked or Suspended Licenses
For a student or worker who depends on driving, this is often the most disruptive part of the whole case.
Federal Charges Are Possible
Most fake-ID cases stay in state court. Federal law exists in the background, though, and it is severe. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1028, producing or transferring a false identification document that appears to be a driver’s license or personal ID card can bring up to 15 years in federal prison, and even simple possession or use carries up to five years.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1028 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection With Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information
Federal prosecutors generally reserve these charges for larger operations, identity theft, immigration fraud, or terrorism connections. A college student caught with one card at a bar is unlikely to see a federal courtroom. Ordering a batch of IDs shipped across state lines, or presenting a fake at a TSA checkpoint, is a different story. Noncitizens face an additional layer of risk: a fake-ID conviction involving intent to defraud can be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, which can trigger removal proceedings or bar future visa applications no matter whether the charge was a misdemeanor or felony.
What a Bar or Store Can Do When They Take Your ID
South Dakota liquor licensees have statutory authority to detain you. Under SDCL 35-9-2.1, a licensee or employee with reasonable grounds to believe someone under 21 has illegally purchased, attempted to purchase, or possesses alcohol, or has misrepresented their age using any document, may detain that person on the premises for a reasonable time.11South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 35-9-2.1 – Merchant May Detain Person Under Twenty-One Who Purchases, Attempts to Purchase or Possesses Alcoholic Beverage – Conditions
During the detention, they can hold your ID, verify it, and call law enforcement. In practice, most bartenders and clerks are trained to confiscate suspicious cards and let the police handle the rest.
Damage to School, Work, and Professional Licenses
A fake-ID charge reaches further than the courthouse. South Dakota’s public universities run student conduct processes that are separate from the criminal system. Being acquitted in court does not clear you on campus, and sanctions can run up to suspension or expulsion for serious or repeated violations.
Professional licensing boards in nursing, law, pharmacy, and accounting ask about criminal history. A dishonesty-related offense raises concerns that a speeding ticket never would. Some boards treat fraud convictions as evidence of poor moral character and require applicants to petition for review or document rehabilitation before granting a license. A card bought for one weekend can create years of complications.
Clearing Your Record
If you were arrested but never formally charged, you can petition the court to expunge the arrest record one year after the arrest under SDCL 23A-3-27.12South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Code 23A-3-27 – Motion for Expungement of Arrest Record The same timeline applies one year after a dismissal, and expungement is available at any time following an acquittal.
Conviction records are harder. Fake-ID offenses are Class 1 misdemeanors, which do not qualify for South Dakota’s automatic removal timeline available to lower-class misdemeanors. Clearing a Class 1 misdemeanor conviction requires working through a narrower set of legal options, and anyone trying to do it should talk to a South Dakota criminal defense attorney about what relief is currently available.