South Dakota: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-07-16.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in South Dakota?

No online lookup located: As of 2026-07-16, we did not locate a public online lookup. You may ask the provider for the credential's name and issuing agency.

A lookup result reflects only the information shown by the issuing agency. Directory inclusion does not certify a provider's credentials or legal compliance.

Who regulates it

NO state licensing — PERMISSIVE MUNICIPAL-OPTION system on a state sanitation floor: SDCL 9-34-17 authorizes (does not require) municipalities to license practitioners and inspect establishments; DOH sets minimum sanitation standards only (SDCL 34-1-17(8); ARSD 44:12). Microblading was ADJUDICATED into 'tattooing' after a Sioux Falls injury case: Medical Board declaratory ruling (microblading = tattooing, not medicine) then lockstep statute+rule amendments (SL 2018 ch 54; SL 2019 ch 55; ARSD eff. 2018-09-10, 2019-11-26)

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

Microblading NAMED in statute and rule (hair-simulation clause covers nano brows: 'similar techniques used to partially or fully simulate natural hair'); broader PMU (eyeliner/lips) reached by the general puncture+indelible-color definition, confirmed by the Cosmetology Commission's own guidance ('Microblading – is considered tattooing... Permanent Makeup – also considered tattooing') which DISCLAIMS jurisdiction and requires salons to post 'Unregulated Services' signs for PMU (ARSD 20:42:04:10.02). PHYSICIAN EXEMPTION: NONE for tattooing (the piercing definition alone carries a physician-supervision carve-out — its absence from the tattooing definition is conspicuous); physician-setting treatment UNRESOLVED. Absence chain: statute sweep + DOH board inventory (no body-art board) + DLR program roster (none) + Commission disclaim + the 2018-19 adjudication history.

Artist requirements

License required	No individual artist license at this level
Training	no state credential; MUNICIPAL licenses where adopted: Sioux Falls 'Tattoo-Microblading Artist Permit' (city ord. ch. 122, health dept administered); Sturgis individual license $560/yr (18+, photo, service history; rally-driven temporary provisions); Pierre art. 21 (text unretrieved); Pennington County establishment licensing (Rapid City has NO city chapter — county fills the gap, jurisdictional clause unread)
Exam	none anywhere identified
Bloodborne pathogen	no state artist requirement (sanitation floor is facility-practice-level); municipal programs vary
Minimum age	no state artist floor; CLIENTS: minors only with signed PARENTAL CONSENT form (SDCL 26-10-19, Class 2 misdemeanor; no presence requirement stated; NO absolute age floor) — DEFINITIONAL-MISMATCH FLAG: the 1985 criminal statute's own tattoo definition ('permanent marks... indelible colors') LACKS the 2018-19 microblading clause added to SDCL 9-34-17; whether it reaches semi-permanent microblading is UNRESOLVED (no case law/AG opinion; ARSD 44:12:01:13 — which cross-references both — clearly does)
Fee	municipal ($560/yr Sturgis; Sioux Falls $60 secondary-only, unverified)
Renewal	municipal (annual typical)

Facility requirements

License required	No
Inspection regime	no state establishment license; ARSD 44:12:01 sanitation floor (space, partitions, lighting, equipment) applies statewide but WHO ENFORCES IT absent a municipal program is UNRESOLVED (statute names municipalities as the licensing/inspecting actors); Sioux Falls: separate establishment permit + health-dept inspections; Winner model: small towns adopt ARSD 44:12 by reference (incl. future amendments); most of SD's ~300 municipalities likely have NO program (unconfirmed)
Fee	municipal
Renewal	municipal

Local variation

County-level variation: Yes

Opt-in municipal patchwork by design: floor = DOH sanitation rules; municipalities may license 'at least as stringent'; four models observed (Sioux Falls two-tier; Sturgis artist-centric; Pennington County filling Rapid City's gap; Winner adoption-by-reference); Aberdeen + all other municipalities UNRESOLVED.

Reciprocity

n/a state-level (no license); no municipal reciprocity provisions found in Sioux Falls/Sturgis materials (uniform application regardless of prior licensure).

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

No 2025/2026 tattoo/PMU bill found (2025 SB 27 = cosmetology fees, HB 1232 = booth rental; keyword false-positives discarded). Search-based negative, not exhaustive.

What this means before you book

South Dakota has no state license for PMU or tattooing — cities choose whether to license at all, so protection depends on where you are: Sioux Falls permits both studios and artists (with microblading named in its permit), Sturgis licenses individual artists, Rapid City-area licensing runs through Pennington County, and many smaller towns have only the state's baseline sanitation rules with no clear enforcer. Minors need a parent's signed consent. With no public register anywhere, verifying an artist means asking the city or county that licenses them — or asking the artist directly where no program exists.

Statutes & sources cited

SDCL 9-34-17 (verbatim, live API fetch): 'Any municipality may regulate the practice of tattooing, saline tattoo removal, and body piercing by licensing practitioners... inspecting... establishments; and establishing standards for sanitation that are at least as stringent as those adopted by the Department of Health'; definition (1): tattooing 'includes microblading and similar techniques used to partially or fully simulate natural hair'
ARSD 44:12:01:01 (DOH definitions, verbatim): 'Tattoo artist' = person practicing 'tattooing or microblading, or both'; ARSD 44:12:01:13 minors rule
SDCL 36-15-2.2 (esthetics: 'confined to the nonliving cells of the stratum corneum... noninvasive' — PMU categorically outside cosmetology/esthetics); SDCL 26-10-19 (minors, 1985, unamended)