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South Dakota unveils new license plate design

It has been 10 years since South Dakota issued a redesign of its license plates and a large number of existing ones are showing some wear and tear and becoming tough to read.

Starting in 2016 any driver renewing their vehicle registration will receive the newly designed license plate and be required to turn over their existing one.

Jonathan Harms, the Communications Director for the Department of Revenue said the state plans to issue 1.5 million license plates, effective January 1, 2016.

Officials announced a redesign of the South Dakota license plate early Friday. Approximately 1.5 million will be issued starting January 1, 2016. Below is an image of the current non-commercial license plate, which has been in circulation since 2006.

The new design is much cleaner than the ones issued in 2006. The layout is the exact same, as are the numbers. But, the image of Mount Rushmore has been darkened and shows a lot more detail. The color of the sky is now a much lighter blue and the artist added clouds to further enhance the image. “South Dakota” and “Great Faces Great Places” and are blue rather than red.

For those renewing in 2016, the new plates will be available at the local county treasurer’s office, self-service terminals throughout South Dakota, and at https://MySDCars.sd.gov.

Pheasantland Industries located in the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls once again received the contract to make the license plates.