Chapter 4: The Legal Requirements
of Boating
Your Vessel’s Registration
Requirements for vessel registration vary from state to state. In South Dakota, you must have a South Dakota Certificate of Number (registration card) and validation decals to operate a vessel on public waters legally. Exceptions to the registration requirement include:
- Vessels 12 feet or less in length without a motor of any kind
- Vessels properly registered in another state and using South Dakota waters for less than 60 consecutive days within one calendar year*
- Vessels documented with the U.S. Coast Guard and using South Dakota waters for less than 60 consecutive days within one calendar year*
* Note: Vessels that are berthed at a South Dakota marina must have a South Dakota registration if the contract for the berth is for 60 or more consecutive days within a calendar year.
Registration application forms are available at county treasurer offices or by writing to:
Department of Revenue
Division of Motor Vehicles
445 East Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501-3185
Application
forms are also available online.
Certificate of
Number (Registration Card)
The Certificate of Number (registration card) must be carried on board the vessel whenever the vessel is operated.
Displaying
the Assigned Number and Validation
Decals
The registration number and validation decals must be displayed as follows.
- Number must be painted, applied as a decal, or otherwise affixed to both sides of the bow such that the number is clearly visible and readable at a distance of 100 feet when the vessel is in the water.
- Number must read from left to right on both sides of the bow.
- Number must be in at least three-inch-high BLOCK letters.
- Number's color must contrast with its background.
- Letters must be separated from the numbers by a space: SD 123 AB or SD 1234 YZ.
- No other numbers may be displayed on either side of the bow.
- Decals must be affixed on both sides of the bow, adjacent to and in line with the number.
Requirements for display of the boat number and validation decals depend on the length of the vessel.
- Non-motorized vessels that are 12 feet or less in length are not required to display the boat number or the validation decals.
- Non-motorized vessels that are more than 12 feet but are 18 feet or less in length are not required to display the boat number but must display the validation decals.
- All motorized vessels and all vessels that are more than 18 feet in length must display both the boat number and the validation decals.
If your vessel requires registration, it is illegal to operate it or allow others to operate your vessel unless it is properly registered and numbered.
PWCs also are required to display
the registration number and validation
decals.
Other Facts About Titling and Registering Your Vessel
- Boats over 12 feet in length and all motorized boats purchased or acquired by a resident of South Dakota on or after July 1, 1993, are required to be titled. Canoes, inflatable boats, kayaks, sailboards, and seaplanes cannot be titled.
- Vessels may be registered for either a one-year or three-year period. Validation decals expire on the last day of the month issued of the final year of the registration period.
- Application for title and registration is made to the county treasurer’s office in the applicant’s county of residence.
- Damage disclosure is required on all vessels that apply for a Certificate of Title if the vessel is six years old or less. Damage disclosure must be made if the vessel has incurred damage in excess of $5,000 at any one time or if the vessel has damage in excess of $5,000 that has not been repaired.
- If a Certificate of Number (registration card) or validation decal is lost or destroyed, the vessel owner must apply to the county treasurer in the applicant’s county of residence for a duplicate.
- Larger recreational vessels owned by U.S. citizens may (at the option of the owner) be documented by the U.S. Coast Guard. Call the USCG at 1‑800‑799‑8362 for more information. Documented vessels on South Dakota waters are required to be registered but not titled. They must display the validation decals but are not required to display the boat number.
- The Hull Identification Number (HIN) is a unique, 12-digit number assigned by the manufacturer to vessels built after 1972.
- Hull Identification Numbers:
- Distinguish one vessel from another—the same as serial numbers distinguish one car from another.
- Are engraved in the fiberglass or on a metal plate permanently attached to the transom.
- If a vessel (including a homemade boat) has no HIN, or if the manufacturer’s HIN has been removed, obliterated, or altered, the owner must apply to the local county treasurer’s office for a HIN.
- You should write down your HIN and put it in a place separate from your vessel in case warranty problems arise or your vessel is stolen.
- It is illegal to destroy, remove, alter, cover, or deface a HIN.
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