13-29-6. Annual inspection of school buses--Issuance and display of certificate--Operation without certificate as petty offense. Each school bus used for the transportation of school children which is owned by a school district, a nonpublic school or alternative education program or privately owned and operated under a contract with a school board or nonpublic school or alternative instruction program shall be inspected before the beginning of each school year by an inspector approved by the Division of Highway Patrol pursuant to § 13-29-6.1 to certify that the vehicle complies with state law, and rules of the South Dakota Board of Education Standards, the Department of Public Safety, and the Division of Highway Patrol. However, if a school bus is purchased from a licensed motor vehicle dealer during the school year, the dealer may inspect and certify that the vehicle complies with such law and rules. The owner of any bus certified by a dealer shall have the bus inspected by an approved inspector before the beginning of the next school year. The owner of the bus shall display a certificate certifying that the school bus has successfully passed inspection issued by the Division of Highway Patrol or the dealer in a form prescribed by the Division of Highway Patrol in the vehicle above the windshield. Any school board, contractor, or person operating a school bus that has not been certified commits a petty offense. This section does not apply to federally regulated charter bus service operations.

Source: SL 1955, ch 41, ch 13, § 13; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3313; SL 1961, ch 82, § 1; SL 1968, ch 53; SL 1975, ch 128, § 201; SL 1979, ch 220, § 4; SL 1982, ch 86, § 142; SL 1986, ch 132, § 1; SL 1992, ch 158, § 94; SL 1998, ch 94, § 1; SL 2000, ch 85, § 2; SL 2004, ch 17, § 26; SL 2013, ch 78, § 1; SL 2017, ch 81, § 57.