A bill headed to the South Dakota House floor establishes a misdemeanor for failing to file birth and death certificates.
The aim is to build a case against the fundamentalist church compound in the Black Hills near Pringle.
Representative Tim Goodwin is the sponsor of the legislation.
“This compound has been in existance since 2005,” Goodwin says. “If you do your math, it’s 2019, we’re around 14 years and there’s been plenty of deaths and I assume somebody has passed away in that time frame. Hopefully it was a legitimate death, but I can’t prove that. To have no birth certificates or death certificates issued in that last 14 years, you know there’s something wrong. This is just a tiny step to start enforcing this compound, or cult, that exists in South Dakota and Custer county.”
Goodwin says he hopes the bill aids law enforcement in investigative the compound.
The legislation requires any person in charge of a body to notify the county coroner and sheriff within 48 hours of a death. A person would have a year to file a birth certificate.
House Bill 11-10 moves to the house floor on a 12 to 1 vote.
