State to pay legal fees of man who sued the state over vanity plate approval process

The State of South Dakota will pay legal fees for a man who sued the state and earned a settlement regarding vanity license plates and the first amendment. Minnehaha county resident Lynn Hart sued the state over the arbitrary way it would approve or deny vanity license plate requests. Now the state Division of Motor Vehicles will rely on the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to determine if a request is too vulgar to be approved. District Judge Roberto Lange signed the order Tuesday, forcing the state to pay Hart’s legal fees of $78,000.