Sara Stadem | Editor
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) closed their doors on March 13, 2020 due to an executive order from the governor to help keep staff and customers safe during COVID-19.
According to Director of the Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing Program Jane Schrank, the office still had staff working from home, trying to keep up with emails and phone messages. However, a customer was not able to walk back into their office until April 7.
When doors reopened in April, the DPS started in-person renewals by appointment only for CDL license. When asked why only CDL license, Schrank said, “We only did CDL because there was a need to haul all of that toilet paper and what not. Supplies needed to get to where they needed to be.”
Following that, on May 18, DPS opened 10 of their bigger exam stations throughout the state, again by appointment only.
In June, Schrank explained they were re-opening stations as they could based on the locations of the exam stations. “We had some rural exam stations in court houses that weren’t open yet since the court house was still closed,” she explained.
What does this mean if someone’s driver license expired during that time? They received an extension. According to Schrank, any license that expired on or after March 13 automatically extended to expire on December 30, 2020.
This does mean that if a driver license is not renewed as of December 31, the driver license is no longer valid or legal and would be subject to citations and fines by law enforcement, explained Schrank.
Schrank also explained that there is a 30-day grace period in statute, even with this extension. “So, they wouldn’t have to test until after the 30-day grace period. Then they would have to pass the knowledge test portion to renew their license,” she said.
How can a driver license be renewed? There are a few ways to complete this: in-person appointment, by mail or online.
DPS is encouraging to renew online for anyone eligible. “We are encouraging everyone that is eligible to renew on line as our exam stations are filling up with appointments and we want to make sure we get everyone in,” Schrank said.
In order to renew on line or by mail, someone has to be a US citizen or permanent resident and cannot have renewed online in the past 10 years, according to Schrank. “So, every other renewal, they can do a remote renew that is not in person,” she explained.
If someone isn’t eligible to renew online or prefers to renew in person, they can still make an appointment.
Mail in renewal is also available for anyone that doesn’t want to go in person but might not have access to online or doesn’t want to do it that way, said Schrank.
What information does someone need to renew online or by mail? Schrank explained depending on the age of the person renewing, to renew online or by mail, someone needs two pieces of mail with their current address. Someone can renew their license online or by mail even if their address has changed since their previous license.
Schrank said to submit the two pieces of mail, someone can choose to scan and upload or take a photo on their cell phone and email it that way. They can also be mailed or faxed into DPS.
Anyone 65 years old and over would need to have their (DPS) vision form completed by an eye doctor.
Lisa Wicks of Hartford recently renewed her expired license online and explained the process was very easy. Wicks was unaware her license had expired until she was at Sunshine. “Spencer at Sunshine said, ‘Are you aware your driver license has expired,’” Wicks said. “I just completely forgot about it since it’s good for 5 years. So, if he would not have told me, I would not have known.”
Wick explained she called the DPS and was told that appointments were a month out so she took it to online. “They told me where to go online and everything was really simple. It took 20 minutes maybe, by the time you get into the place where you need to go and it’s step by step.” Wicks said, “By the time I got everything ready, like my purse for my license and such; if you have everything ahead of time, it would go quicker. It’s all right there.”
For Wicks, she thought the process was quicker than she thought it would be for getting her license in the mail. “It was way quicker than I thought it would be. It was about 10 days. I was thinking what did I get from the Department of Revenue so I was surprised with how quick it was.”
Wicks said she has also found that she can get into the Mitchell exam location quicker when it came to renewing her son’s permit. “I don’t think people know they can go other locations and it might be timelier,” said Wicks.
Time is running out and if a renewal is needed, Schrank explained to do one of the following:
In-person renewal: Schedule an appointment at https://dps.sd.gov.
Online renewal: DPS is doing an ad campaign so the web address to go to renew is www.renew2020sd.com. According to Schrank, this web address will work beyond the end of the year.
Mail renewal: Call 605-773-6883 to have the correct forms mailed to complete the renewal through the mail.
“Right now, with the numbers of online renewals that we are seeing, it’s taking about three weeks to get your driver’s license in the mail if you renew online or by mail,” Schrank said. “Please don’t wait.”