South Dakota Pharmacist license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

South Dakota pharmacists must complete 12 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the South Dakota Board of Pharmacy (South Dakota Department of Health). A pharmacist license renews every year. The renewal application and fee must reach the board on or before September 30, and the board's pharmacist page states renewals are due annually before September 30. A pharmacist who does not apply and pay lets the license expire, and reinstatement requires all delinquent fees plus a fifty dollar late fee. South Dakota also mandates specific subjects. Continuing education related to immunizations: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle (pharmacists holding board authorization to administer immunizations). Certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation: required every renewal cycle (pharmacists holding board authorization to administer immunizations).

South Dakota Pharmacist renewal and continuing education rules

"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.

The license renews every year but the continuing education window is longer than the renewal period. ARSD 20:51:19:03 requires twelve hours of approved continuing education for each yearly renewal and says those twelve hours must be completed within the twenty-four months before the license expires, so continuing_education.cycle_months is 24 while the license cycle stays 12. The board's continuing education page states the same thing. SDCL 36-11-23.2 caps any single continuing education program at twelve hours in length in one year. Newly licensed pharmacists are not exempt: ARSD 20:51:19:07 prorates them at one hour of continuing education credit per month from the date of registration until the license expires. The board may extend the time to complete hours for good cause under ARSD 20:51:19:03.01. The rules read here set no live hour minimum, no cap on home study, and no carryover provision, so those fields are null. These figures are the pharmacist requirement; registered pharmacy technicians are covered separately in ARSD 20:51:29 and that number was not used here.

Required CE topics for South Dakota pharmacists

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a South Dakota RPh/PharmD need to renew?

South Dakota pharmacists must complete 12 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the South Dakota Board of Pharmacy (South Dakota Department of Health). The license renews every year but the continuing education window is longer than the renewal period. ARSD 20:51:19:03 requires twelve hours of approved continuing education for each yearly renewal and says those twelve hours must be completed within the twenty-four months before the license expires, so continuing_education.cycle_months is 24 while the license cycle stays 12. The board's continuing education page states the same thing. SDCL 36-11-23.2 caps any single continuing education program at twelve hours in length in one year. Newly licensed pharmacists are not exempt: ARSD 20:51:19:07 prorates them at one hour of continuing education credit per month from the date of registration until the license expires. The board may extend the time to complete hours for good cause under ARSD 20:51:19:03.01. The rules read here set no live hour minimum, no cap on home study, and no carryover provision, so those fields are null. These figures are the pharmacist requirement; registered pharmacy technicians are covered separately in ARSD 20:51:29 and that number was not used here.

How often does a South Dakota RPh/PharmD license need to be renewed?

Pharmacist licenses in South Dakota renew every year. A pharmacist license renews every year. The renewal application and fee must reach the board on or before September 30, and the board's pharmacist page states renewals are due annually before September 30. A pharmacist who does not apply and pay lets the license expire, and reinstatement requires all delinquent fees plus a fifty dollar late fee.

What specific CE topics are required for South Dakota pharmacists?

Continuing education related to immunizations: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle (pharmacists holding board authorization to administer immunizations). Certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation: required every renewal cycle (pharmacists holding board authorization to administer immunizations). Citations: continuing education related to immunizations (ARSD 20:51:19:03; ARSD 20:51:28:07) and certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ARSD 20:51:28:07(1); ARSD 20:51:28:02(3)).

Do South Dakota pharmacists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 3 years. Hours must come from an approved provider, defined in ARSD 20:51:19:03 as an association, corporation, educational institution, organization, or person accredited by the Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education, or a sponsor approved by the board under ARSD 20:51:19:09. Pharmacists keep their own records of continuing education hours for three years from the program completion date (ARSD 20:51:19:05), and the board audits at least five percent of licensed pharmacists at random each year to verify them (ARSD 20:51:19:05.01). The rules read here do not require NABP CPE Monitor reporting.

Is the first South Dakota RPh/PharmD renewal exempt from CE?

No. South Dakota applies the continuing education requirement to the first renewal as well.

Sources

Last verified September 10, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• ARSD 20:51:19:03, Hours required, South Dakota Administrative RulesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• SDCL 36-11-23, Pharmacist license, Renewal, Expiration, Reinstatement, Late feeStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• ARSD 20:51:19:05, Pharmacists keep own recordsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• ARSD 20:51:19:05.01, Audit to verify hours earnedStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• ARSD 20:51:19:07, Newly licensed registrantsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• ARSD 20:51:28:07, Renewal of authorization to administer immunizationsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Board of Pharmacy Continuing Education Requirements, South Dakota Department of HealthState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Pharmacists, South Dakota Board of PharmacyState board page, accessed September 10, 2026

The September 30 annual renewal deadline is SDCL 36-11-23 and is repeated on the board's pharmacist page. The twelve hour total, the twenty-four month completion window, the immunization hour, and the definitions of approved continuing education and approved provider are ARSD 20:51:19:03 as amended effective September 15, 2025, and the board's continuing education page states the same twelve hours and two year window. Three year record retention is ARSD 20:51:19:05 and the five percent annual random audit is ARSD 20:51:19:05.01. The South Dakota legislature site renders through JavaScript, so the rule and statute text was read through its api/Rules and api/Statutes HTML endpoints, which return the rule text directly; those endpoints are the URLs cited. No jurisprudence, opioid, human trafficking, or other subject mandate for pharmacists appears in ARSD article 20:51, and no carryover provision appears in chapter 20:51:19, so those are left null or empty.