South Dakota Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

All South Dakota licensees are required to complete a minimum of 10 credit hours of continuing education (CE) requirements every two-year term when renewing their license. This requirement may be met by pursuing: 

• Online courses
• Print correspondence
• Company seminars
• In-person classes
• Computer-based training (CD-Rom/CBT)

No more than 50% of continuing education credit hours can be sponsored by the same insurer. 

Licensees holding specific qualifications on their license must complete the specified number of CE credit hours in that subject area as part of their renewal requirements. 

Producers with crop-hail qualifications and personal lines or commercial lines must complete two hours of the biennial CE requirement in certified crop-hail courses and four hours in crop insurance. Only two hours of crop hail courses each term may count toward the overall 10 hours of continuing education credits required. 

Licensees who only hold a crop license only need to complete the four-hour crop insurance CE requirement. 

Producers dealing with both personal lines and commercial lines of insurance are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education every two-year term, with at least eight hours of credits in each line held. 

Because term dates are based on the birth month and year of the licensee, rather than the date the license is received, continuing education requirements in your first renewal term may be prorated if you apply for your license partway through your term. Contact the South Dakota Division of Insurance to determine whether you qualify for a prorated continuing education requirement. 

Rules for Non-Residents

Non-residents in good standing in their home state are not required to complete any additional continuing education in South Dakota. Licensees outside the United States are also not required to complete South Dakota continuing education requirements. 

Carryover of Excess Continuing Education

Licensees seeking renewal cannot carry over extra CE hours to the next renewal term. This ensures that all insurance agents in South Dakota complete regular continuing education training and remain up-to-date in the industry. 

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

Licenses in South Dakota expire every two years on the last day of the licensee's birth month. Renewal terms are based on the licensee's year of birth, not the year the license was initially granted. For example, if you were born in an odd-numbered year, your license will always need to be renewed on the last day of your birth month in odd-numbered years. 

You can file for renewal after completing your continuing education requirements and up to 90 days before your license is set to expire. There is a $50.00 fee to renew your license. 

Occasionally, you can file for a renewal extension if you have extenuating circumstances, such as a major death in the family, which would have prevented you from completing your continuing education requirements. To file an extension, contact the South Dakota Division of Insurance. 

Rules for Taking the Exam

Students must complete online courses in full before they will be given access to online exams. 

Exams are closed-book, meaning that you do not have access to course materials while taking your exam. Students are required to pass course exams with a score of 70% or higher in order to receive CE credit for the course. Students may retake an exam an unlimited number of times until a passing score is received.

You are not required to have a monitor when taking an exam. However, prior to taking your exam, and each time you log into your course, you must answer biographical data questions to verify your identity. Your answers must match each time. 

Rules for Repeating a Course

Repeated courses cannot be counted more than once toward the continuing education requirement in a single renewal period. Licensees may repeat a course during subsequent renewal periods for CE credit. 

Credit for Instructors

South Dakota Division of Insurance regulations do not specify whether instructors can receive continuing education credit for teaching courses. Contact the South Dakota Division of Insurance directly to determine whether you can receive CE credit for the courses you teach. 

Reporting Rules

Credits must be reported within 10 days of successfully completing a course. To report your course, you will need your NPN or license number and will need to pay a course reporting fee equivalent to $1.00 per credit hour. You can report your course on the Sircon website. 

Insurance Continuing Education Requirement Exemptions

You are exempt from continuing education requirements if: 

• You turned 65 before July 1, 2006, and have held a license for at least 10 years 
• You turned 65 after July 1, 2006, have held a license for at least 10 years, and no longer actively sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance
• You are a producer who is only licensed to sell bail bonds
• You are a producer who is a resident attorney licensed to practice law in South Dakota
• You hold a limited license and can only sell credit life and credit health insurance

Per federal law, producers who sell or solicit long-term care (LTC) insurance must complete required long-term care training, regardless of their exemption from overall CE credit requirements in South Dakota. 

South Dakota Annuity Requirements

Before selling annuities, producers must complete a one-time, four-hour training course. This course may be counted toward the overall CE credit requirements for a renewal term. The training course must be taken within six months of obtaining an annuity life license. 

South Dakota Long-Term Care Training Requirements

Before selling or soliciting long-term care products or services, producers must complete a one-time, eight-hour LTC training requirement. Additionally, producers must complete four hours of LTC continuing education credits every 24 months. 

Both the initial, eight-hour course and the subsequent four-hour CE credits may be counted toward general continuing education requirements in a renewal period. 

South Dakota Flood Requirements

FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) require a one-time, three-hour flood insurance training to be completed in order to sell flood insurance. This requirement is enforced in South Dakota.