Restoring Your Gun Rights in South Dakota: How to Get Firearm Rights Back

The short answer: South Dakota does offer paths back to lawful firearm possession — but restoring rights under South Dakota law is only half the job. If your conviction is also a federal felony bar under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), you can be fully "legal" in South Dakota's eyes and still commit a federal crime the moment you buy or possess a gun. Read the "two locks" section below before doing anything else.

South Dakota's own mechanisms, in brief: (1) an automatic lapse of the state firearm disability once enough time has passed — 15 years after discharge for a "crime of violence" felony (and for the serious drug felonies specifically enumerated in the statute), 5 years for other chapter 22-42 drug felonies; (2) for misdemeanor domestic violence, a one-year automatic period followed by a court petition; and (3) a governor's pardon, recommended by the Board of Pardons and Paroles, restoring firearm rights only if the document says so in writing. South Dakota has no general adult-felony expungement statute or certificate-of-rehabilitation program; a successfully completed suspended imposition of sentence (SDCL 23A-27-13) is a separate, narrower tool that can mean no formal conviction was ever entered.

1. Who loses firearm rights in South Dakota

Two systems apply, and they don't match up perfectly:

• Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)) bars possession for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison — essentially any felony, regardless of whether it involved violence, drugs, or fraud. Federal law also bars anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), the Lautenberg Amendment).
• South Dakota's own statute (SDCL 22-14-15) is narrower: it's a state crime (Class 6 felony) to possess a firearm only if convicted of a "crime of violence" (defined at SDCL 22-1-2(9)) or one of the specific felony drug offenses in chapter 22-42 that the statute lists. South Dakota separately restricts possession for one year after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction (SDCL 22-14-15.2).

So South Dakota's ban is narrower than the federal ban, not broader. Someone convicted of a felony that is neither a "crime of violence" nor a listed drug offense may not violate SDCL 22-14-15 by possessing a firearm — but is almost certainly still barred federally, which doesn't care what kind of felony it was. Never assume that because South Dakota's statute doesn't cover your conviction, you're clear.

2. The two locks — this is the part that matters most

Restoring your rights under South Dakota law does not, by itself, lift the federal bar. These are two separate locks, and South Dakota only holds the key to one of them.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), federal law stops treating a person as "convicted" for firearms purposes only when a state's restoration, pardon, expungement, or set-aside restores civil rights (generally voting, holding office, and jury service) and does not expressly continue a firearms restriction. If relief restores civil rights but the document or underlying law still bars guns, the federal disability stays. Courts have also disagreed over whether relief restoring only firearm rights — never touching voting, jury, or office-holding rights — counts as "restoration of civil rights" at all. That's exactly the gap South Dakota's automatic firearm-only lapse could fall into, and it's a question for a lawyer, not a guess.

If your conviction was federal, the picture is more restrictive still: under Beecham v. United States, 511 U.S. 368 (1994), a federal conviction generally cannot be fixed by a state restoration process — only federal relief counts, and the federal valve, 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), has been unfunded for decades.

Bottom line: you can do everything right under South Dakota law — wait out the period, get a court order, even obtain a pardon — and still be a federal felon in possession if the relief doesn't satisfy § 921(a)(20), or your conviction was federal. This is the single most common way people in this situation end up facing new federal charges. Before you buy, touch, or possess a firearm, confirm the federal effect of your restoration with a lawyer.

3. How South Dakota restores firearm rights

South Dakota offers a limited set of tools. Don't assume a mechanism exists just because it's common elsewhere:

Automatic restoration after time passes

Under SDCL 22-14-15, the ban on possession by someone convicted of a "crime of violence" — or one of the serious drug felonies specifically enumerated in that statute (SDCL 22-42-2, -3, -4, -7, -8, -9, -10, or -19) — stops applying once the person was last discharged from prison, jail, probation, or parole more than 15 years earlier. For other felony drug convictions under chapter 22-42 that are not on that enumerated list, the state disability instead lapses after 5 years (SDCL 22-14-15.1). No petition is legally required for either lapse — but since there's no court order documenting it, strongly consider petitioning a court for a declaratory order or getting written confirmation before relying on it.

Court petition (misdemeanor domestic violence only)

SDCL 22-14-15.2 bars possession for one year after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction. After that year, you may file a verified petition with the convicting court and serve the state's attorney in the county of conviction. Absent another disqualifying conviction, the court is directed to enter a restoration order roughly 30 days after service.

Governor's pardon

A pardon, recommended by the Board of Pardons and Paroles and granted by the Governor, restores firearm rights only if the document explicitly says so (SDCL chapter 24-14) — a pardon silent on firearms does not restore them. Gathering records and any required evaluations costs money and time. The Board generally wants meaningful time since sentencing or discharge before looking favorably; confirm current application requirements, timing, and any reapplication period directly with the Board.

Suspended imposition of sentence (a different, narrower tool)

A successfully completed suspended imposition of sentence (SIS, SDCL 23A-27-13) can leave a case in a different posture than a standard conviction — potentially with no formal judgment ever entered. South Dakota has no broad general expungement statute for adult felonies outside this and a few narrow non-conviction categories, and expunging or sealing a record does not by itself restore firearm rights. Whether an SIS changes your firearm status depends heavily on the specifics and requires a lawyer's review.

4. Waiting periods and permanent exclusions

The verifiable waiting periods are 15 years (crime-of-violence felonies and the drug felonies specifically enumerated in SDCL 22-14-15), 5 years (other chapter 22-42 drug felonies), and 1 year plus a petition (misdemeanor domestic violence). South Dakota's statutes, as currently written, do not appear to carve out a specific list of felonies permanently barred from relief the way some states permanently exclude murder or certain sex offenses. That said, the Board of Pardons and Paroles has discretion and may treat serious violent or sexual offenses far more cautiously in practice, and laws change. Don't assume any conviction is automatically restorable or permanently barred without confirming the current statute and Board practice with the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Attorney General's office, or a local criminal-defense lawyer.

Steps to restore your gun rights in South Dakota

1. Get your exact conviction record — judgment, sentencing order, and discharge date from prison, probation, or parole, for every relevant case, state and federal.
2. Determine whether the conviction is federal. If so, consult a lawyer first — Beecham generally bars fixing it through a state process, and § 925(c) relief isn't functioning.
3. Check whether SDCL 22-14-15 even applies to you. If your felony isn't a "crime of violence" or a listed drug offense, South Dakota's own ban may not cover it — but § 922(g)(1) still does.
4. Calculate your waiting period — 15 years (crime-of-violence felonies and the drug felonies enumerated in SDCL 22-14-15), 5 years (other chapter 22-42 drug felonies), or 1 year plus a petition (misdemeanor domestic violence).
5. If eligible for the domestic-violence petition, file it, verified, with the convicting court and serve the state's attorney.
6. If pursuing a pardon, apply through the Board of Pardons and Paroles and request firearm-restoration language — a silent pardon won't do it.
7. Get everything in writing.
8. Before buying or possessing a firearm, have a lawyer confirm the federal effect under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). Don't rely on your own reading of the statute.

5. Practical warnings

• Never rely on a verbal assurance or a pardon silent on firearms — get the written order or pardon language.
• A federal background check (NICS) can flag you even if you believe your rights are restored; state and federal records don't always match.
• Possessing or buying a firearm while still federally barred is a serious federal felony (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)), regardless of what South Dakota has done for you. Laws and Board practices change — confirm current text and procedures first.

Frequently asked questions

Does South Dakota automatically restore gun rights after a felony?

For felonies covered by its own ban, South Dakota's disability lapses automatically with time: 15 years after your last discharge for a "crime of violence" (and for the serious drug felonies specifically enumerated in the statute), or 5 years for other chapter 22-42 drug felonies. That's a state-law effect only; it doesn't by itself resolve a separate federal bar.

If South Dakota restores my rights, am I legal under federal law too?

Not necessarily. Federal law only recognizes state restoration as removing the federal bar when it restores civil rights without preserving a firearms restriction (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)), and courts have disagreed on whether firearm-only relief qualifies. Confirm with a lawyer before assuming you're clear federally.

Can a pardon fix everything?

Only if the document specifically restores firearm rights. A general pardon silent on firearms leaves the disability in place under state law, and may or may not satisfy federal requirements even when it does address firearms.

I was convicted in federal court. Can South Dakota restore my rights?

Generally no. Under Beecham v. United States, state mechanisms typically cannot remove a federal firearm disability from a federal conviction, and the § 925(c) federal relief program has been unfunded for decades. South Dakota also has no broad expungement statute for adult felonies — the closest tools are a completed suspended imposition of sentence and a governor's pardon.

This is general legal information, not legal advice — confirm current statutes and your individual eligibility with a South Dakota lawyer or the Board of Pardons and Paroles before buying, possessing, or applying for restoration of a firearm.