Licensing, Examinations, Renewal and Apprenticeship
About 8 of every 30 questions on a South Dakota Laws and Rules practice exam come from this topic.
Sources checked
The Commission doesn't publish the length, time limit or outline of its Laws and Rules exam. This practice exam's 30 questions, 60-minute timer and section weights are our estimate; the 75% pass mark is official.
What to know
To take a South Dakota licensing exam, a cosmetologist applicant must show 1,500 hours of education, a nail technician 400 hours and an esthetician 600 hours, or an apprenticeship in a licensed salon instead, and license applicants must generally be at least eighteen. Cosmetologist, nail technician and esthetician licenses expire annually and are renewed on or before the licensee's birth date; a renewal postmarked by that date is on time, and a licensee who keeps working sixty days or more after expiration faces discipline. A license lapsed more than five continuous years also requires passing the current exams or a pre-approved review course of at least two hours plus a safety and infection control exam. Students must apply for a student license within ten days of enrolling and must reapply when they transfer schools, and temporary permits and temporary licenses last until the next scheduled exam (extended until results are mailed if the holder takes it) and become invalid if the holder fails or is not excused from it. Apprentices must be at least seventeen and train under a licensed instructor's constant supervision in a licensed apprentice salon, which may have up to eight apprentices but no more than two per instructor. A cosmetology apprenticeship is 1,500 consecutive hours, with 225 classroom hours before serving clients, at least forty hours a week (or at least twenty if the apprentice elects part-time) and no more than ten hours of training a day, and instructors mail weekly reports by the fourth day after each training week. Reciprocity applicants must pass a written exam on South Dakota's law and rules, may earn part of their education hours through work experience at two work hours per school hour, and since 2026 may qualify with a non-equivalent license if relevant work experience covers the shortfall. Licensees need 16 hours of education before microdermabrasion or eyelash extensions and 8 hours before using an electric nail file, with the course certificate approved by the commission before any services and the commission's certification posted in the salon while working.
Where it comes from
- SDCL 36-15-2.3
- SDCL 36-15-15
- SDCL 36-15-17
- SDCL 36-15-17.1
- SDCL 36-15-19
- SDCL 36-15-19.1
- SDCL 36-15-19.2
- SDCL 36-15-22
- SDCL 36-15-33
- SDCL 36-15-34
- SDCL 36-15-42
- SDCL 36-15-42.1
- SDCL 36-15-44
- SDCL 36-15-45
- SDCL 36-15-46.1
- SDCL 36-15-47
- SDCL 36-15-47.1
- SDCL 36-15-48.2
- SDCL 36-15-50
- SDCL 36-15-50.1
- ARSD 20:42:03:01
- ARSD 20:42:03:04
- ARSD 20:42:03:06
- ARSD 20:42:03:06.01
- ARSD 20:42:03:06.03
- ARSD 20:42:03:12
- ARSD 20:42:03:13
- ARSD 20:42:03:14
- ARSD 20:42:07:03
- ARSD 20:42:07:06
- ARSD 20:42:07:06.02
- ARSD 20:42:07:09
- ARSD 20:42:07:10
- ARSD 20:42:08:07
- ARSD 20:42:08:08
- ARSD 20:42:08:09
Try a practice question
Unless the chapter provides otherwise, what minimum age must an applicant for a South Dakota cosmetology license or permit show?
- AEighteen years of age
- BSeventeen years of age
- CSixteen years of age
- DTwenty-one years of age
Show the answer
Eighteen years of age. Every license or permit applicant must show the commission they are at least eighteen, except where the chapter sets another age (such as seventeen for student and apprentice licenses).
SDCL 36-15-15
Ready for a full run? The South Dakota Cosmetology Laws and Rules Practice Test is 30 questions in 60 minutes, scored at 75%. For the official exam's details, see South Dakota Cosmetology Laws and Rules Exam Requirements.