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revise certain provisions regarding criminal background checks for adults working in child care institutions.

HB1029 changes the criminal background check requirements for adults working in child care institutions by revising which crimes disqualify someone from employment in these settings. The bill modifies the list of offenses that automatically bar workers from child care jobs, adjusting state law to refine who can work around children in licensed facilities.

add clergy to the list of mandatory reporters for suspected child abuse or neglect.

Religious clergy members would now be required to report suspected child abuse or neglect to authorities, just like teachers, doctors, and other professionals already must do. Currently, South Dakota law does not include clergy on the mandatory reporter list, so this bill closes that gap by holding religious leaders to the same reporting standards as other professionals who work with children.

temporarily revise the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action for certain cases of child sexual abuse.

HB1269 extends the time period that child sexual abuse survivors have to file a lawsuit against their abusers or the institutions that failed to protect them. Instead of the current deadline, survivors would have additional years to bring civil cases forward, giving more people a realistic opportunity to seek justice after disclosing abuse that often occurred years or decades earlier.

require parental notification and agreement before the institution of an order to withhold resuscitation from certain patients.

This bill requires hospitals and medical providers to notify parents and get their written agreement before issuing a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order for patients under 18 years old or those with intellectual disabilities. Currently, such orders can be issued without explicit parental consent in certain circumstances, so this bill adds a new requirement for parental involvement in these life-and-death medical decisions.

revise certain provisions regarding the consideration of joint physical custody of a minor.

# HB1104 Summary This bill changes how South Dakota courts handle joint physical custody decisions by requiring judges to presume that joint physical custody is in a child's best interest unless proven otherwise. Previously, courts could award joint custody only if both parents agreed or if the judge found it appropriate—now the law shifts the burden to whichever parent opposes joint custody to show why it wouldn't work.

require certain products contain digital blocking capability, establish a deactivation fee, establish the human trafficking and child exploitation prevention fund, and provide a penalty therefor.

# HB1154 Summary This bill requires certain products—likely devices or apps used for communication—to include digital blocking technology that allows users to prevent contact from specific people, and establishes a fee when this blocking feature is deactivated or removed. Revenue from these deactivation fees would go into a new fund dedicated to preventing human trafficking and child exploitation. Businesses that fail to comply with these requirements would face penalties.

revise visitation rights of a person causing conception by rape or incest.

SB143 eliminates visitation and custody rights for individuals who conceived a child through rape or incest. Currently, South Dakota law allows courts to consider visitation in these cases; this bill removes that possibility entirely, preventing perpetrators of rape or incest from having legal contact with or custody of any resulting children.

provide parents with certain rights regarding health care treatment of a minor child.

HB1205 requires health care providers to notify parents before providing certain health care services to their minor children, with limited exceptions for emergency situations and services like vaccinations. The bill expands parental notification rights beyond current law, though it includes narrow carve-outs for cases where a provider reasonably believes the minor is in danger or where state or federal law requires different rules. This gives parents greater oversight of their children's medical decisions while preserving some flexibility for providers in specific circumstances.

prohibit the endangerment of any child by means of driving under the influence and to provide a penalty therefor.

HB 1217 makes it a crime to drive under the influence while a child is in the vehicle, creating a separate offense with its own penalties beyond standard DUI charges. The bill treats endangering a child through impaired driving as a distinct violation to hold drivers accountable for putting young passengers at risk.

revise certain provisions regarding support obligations.

# HB 1106 Summary This bill modifies how child support and spousal support obligations are calculated and enforced in South Dakota. The specific changes affect the income calculations used to determine support amounts, adjustments for shared parenting time, and procedures for modifying or terminating support orders based on changed circumstances.

require the Department of Social Services to collect and report certain information regarding the military affiliation of a parent whose child is subject to a report of abuse or neglect.

HB1043 requires the Department of Social Services to track and report whether a parent involved in child abuse or neglect cases has military affiliation. The department will collect this demographic information and include it in their annual reporting to help identify any patterns related to military families.

revise certain provisions regarding child support orders.

This bill allows courts to award the federal child tax credit to the noncustodial parent (the parent who doesn't have primary custody) by ordering the custodial parent to release their claim to it, specifying which tax years apply. It also lets parents modify existing child support orders made before July 1, 2019 solely to transfer the tax credit without needing to prove a major change in circumstances.

revise certain provisions regarding the granting of work permits to minors who refuse to submit to chemical analyses.

# SB11 Summary SB11 changes the rules for issuing work permits to minors who refuse to take drug or alcohol tests. Under this revision, minors can no longer automatically be denied a work permit simply because they refuse to submit to chemical testing, though the bill establishes new conditions for when permits can or cannot be granted based on such refusals.

require the provision of certain services regarding special education to students receiving alternative instruction.

# HB 1058 Summary This bill requires school districts to provide certain special education services—such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, and other related services—to students who receive alternative instruction outside of traditional classrooms. Currently, these services may not be consistently available to students in alternative settings, so the bill ensures they receive the same support as students in regular classrooms.