$10.00title application · plus 4% excise tax on the purchase price
“Application for a certificate of title shall be made to the county treasurer”, with a fee of ten dollars (SDCL 32-3-18), and an owner registers a vehicle with the treasurer of the owner's county (SDCL 32-5-2). A purchase also carries the motor vehicle excise tax, “four percent on the purchase price” (SDCL 32-5B-1). The Department of Revenue says renewal “can be accomplished in person at the applicant's county treasurer's office; by mail through the county”, among other ways.
Registration is priced by weight and age
For a noncommercial car, pickup or van, SDCL 32-5-6 sets the yearly fee by the manufacturer's shipping weight: 2,000 lb or less $36 · 2,001–4,000 lb $72 · 4,001–6,000 lb $108 · over 6,000 lb $144. A vehicle ten or more model years old pays 70% of that (SDCL 32-5-30). Motor homes, trailers, motorcycles and heavier vehicles have their own schedules. The Department of Revenue also lists a $1 highway patrol fee, a $1 solid waste fee and a $2 technology fee on each registration, and a $100 yearly fee for an electric vehicle (SDCL 32-5-188). Many counties add a wheel tax, which the Department lists county by county.
Other title fees
Noting a lien on a title is $10.00, charged by the county treasurer (SDCL 32-3-45). Mailing plates is $12.00 and mailing decals $2.50 (SDCL 32-5-127).
Driver licenses in Perkins County — a state service
Driver licenses are issued by the Department of Public Safety, not by the Finance Office. The Department's own list of driver license sites, read 2026-09-25, shows these sites in Perkins County:
Lemmon Driver License Office (a county issue location) — City Finance, 303 1st Ave West, Lemmon, SD 57638 · 605-374-5681 · W, Th: 1 PM - 3:30 PM; By appointment onlyPerkins County Driver License Office (a county issue location) — Finance Director, 100 East Main St, PO Box 126, Bison, SD 57620 · 605-244-5624 · M - Th: 7:30 AM - 5 PM; F: 7:30 AM - 12 PMThe Department says of each county issue location: “This location is not a state exam station and cannot serve non-citizens or first-time CDL applicants.”Department of Public Safety — driver license locations ↗