Legislative Session 2022

A report from the Prison Policy Initiative found South Dakota has more women in prison per capita than any other state in the country — and more than any other country in the world.

UPDATE: Judge Karen Schreier is reinstating a University of South Dakota professor placed on leave over a social media post critical of Charlie Kirk.

A new prison has been formally planned by the state Legislature. Now, lawmakers’ justifications for their votes have been laid out for all voters.

We talk with South Dakota State University political scientists Lisa Hager, Ph.D., and David Wiltse, Ph.D., about insurrection, crisis communication, and the way forward for America in turbulent times.

The state has approved four medical marijuana dispensaries with more than a dozen applications pending.People are starting up medical cannabis businesses, even while the state Legislature considers dozens of bills designed to tweak industry regulations.

A Senate panel is rejecting a bill that prevents transgender students from using a bathroom they identify with.The panel rejected the proposal 6-1.

The relationship between Governor Kristi Noem and Republican leaders in the state House of Representatives has deteriorated during this legislative session. We discuss the political wrangling, the ongoing impeachment proceedings against South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, and the potential expansion of sports betting in the state on this SDPB reporter legislative roundtable.

Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to face their accusers. When the victim is a child, certain protections exist in South Dakota law to minimize the trauma of appearing in court, including testifying by closed-circuit TV. A group of child protection workers drafted two bills in an attempt to put up greater shields between the child and defendant, but the House Judiciary Committee, citing constitutional concerns, has disallowed most of them.

The House Judiciary Committee has voted down a bill requiring law enforcement training to include issues of concern to tribes. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Shawn Bordeaux, also brought a similar bill last year. He sought recruit training on tribal sovereignty and cultural customs, as well as a ban on chokeholds. Bill opponents say law enforcement training already includes all that.

Senate lawmakers are passing a bill that allows medical marijuana patients to grow up to six plants.The bill now heads to the House, where lawmakers there already passed a ban on home grow.

The South Dakota House Education Committee has passed a measure requiring public schools to display the state seal or state motto. South Dakota’s state motto is “Under God the People Rule.”

Two Native American lawmakers want funding for an office to investigate cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.A law was passed last year to create the liaison’s office. The role has not yet been filled.

A measure allowing Native American students to wear beaded graduation caps has passed the House Education Committee. However, the committee killed two other bills dealing with the representation of Native Americans in public schools.