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Provide for the inclusion of education regarding mental health in the South Dakota health education standards.

South Dakota schools must include mental health education in their health curriculum whenever the state revises its health education standards, covering topics like recognizing mental illness symptoms, understanding how mental health affects overall wellness, and learning where to find help. The Board of Education Standards will consult with mental health experts to develop these new standards, which will also address reducing stigma around mental illness and teaching practical coping skills for stress management.

Provide opportunities for treatment courts for South Dakotans, create a workgroup to study rehabilitation programs, and declare an emergency.

HB1135 directs the South Dakota Legislature to expand treatment courts—programs that offer rehabilitation and treatment instead of traditional prosecution for certain offenders—to more South Dakotans. The bill also establishes a workgroup to study rehabilitation programs in the state and declares an emergency, though the bill text provided doesn't specify what programs the workgroup will examine or what specific changes treatment courts will implement.

To provide for an interim study to examine the South Dakota criminal justice system with a focus on substance abuse, mental health issues, and corrections.

This resolution creates a special interim committee to study South Dakota's criminal justice system, focusing on how substance abuse and mental health issues drive crime and how corrections could be improved. The committee will examine recidivism rates, review successful programs from other states, and evaluate whether shifting substance abuse treatment from the criminal justice system to public health approaches could work in South Dakota. This is a study request, not a change to existing law.

Require a mental health assessment for certain individuals being considered for employment by the Division of Highway Patrol.

South Dakota would require job candidates in final consideration for agent, patrolman, or employee positions with the Highway Patrol Division to undergo a mental health assessment by a qualified mental health professional. This is a new requirement that applies specifically to individuals who would perform duties outlined in state law for Highway Patrol positions.

Provide tuition for a student who is placed in a residential treatment center that provides educational programming.

When a student is placed in a residential treatment center that offers educational programs, the local school district where that center is located must provide education for the student and pay tuition according to existing state funding formulas. This bill clarifies that students already enrolled in a school district or state-operated school remain entitled to tuition funding when placed in such treatment centers, unless they were placed by the Department of Corrections or Department of Social Services.

Allow public schools to authorize an individual to volunteer or be employed as a school chaplain.

Public schools in South Dakota must now adopt a policy allowing volunteers to serve as school chaplains, with each chaplain's religious affiliation publicly listed on the district website. The policy must specify chaplain qualifications and allowed duties, but cannot require student participation and must prohibit chaplains from having any disciplinary authority over students. Chaplain volunteers must pass the same criminal background checks as hired school employees and cannot have convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude, crimes of violence, sex offenses, or drug trafficking.

Make an appropriation to the Department of Human Services for reimbursing the cost of respite care services for caregivers of individuals with dementia and to declare an emergency.

South Dakota is appropriating $500,000 to help family caregivers pay for respite care services (temporary break care) for people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Caregivers who are at least 18 years old, apply through the Department of Human Services, and demonstrate a need for respite care can be reimbursed, with priority given to those who have exhausted federal funding under the Older Americans Act.

Require the reporting of the number of veterans who die by suicide in this state.

South Dakota's Department of Health will now be required to publish annual data on its website showing how many state residents who served in the U.S. armed forces or South Dakota National Guard died by suicide in the previous year. This new requirement takes effect immediately and creates a yearly reporting deadline of August 1st to track veteran suicide deaths statewide.

Require that public school students be provided with information regarding age-of-consent laws and legal and mental health resources.

South Dakota school districts must now provide students starting in fifth grade with annual information about the state's age-of-consent laws and available legal and mental health resources, presented in an age-appropriate way. This is a new requirement that adds to existing school curriculum standards but does not change any existing laws—it only requires schools to educate students about those laws and direct them to support services.

Revise the penalty and provide treatment for the ingestion of certain controlled substances.

South Dakota currently treats drug ingestion as a felony regardless of prior history, but this bill changes it to a misdemeanor for first and second offenses while requiring drug evaluation and treatment as conditions of probation. Only a third violation within five years would become a felony under the new system. This shift prioritizes treatment over immediate felony prosecution for people struggling with substance use.

Permit a court to order family therapy or reunification therapy in a custody or visitation dispute.

South Dakota courts can now order parents involved in custody or visitation disputes to participate in family therapy or reunification therapy to help them develop or follow their parenting plans, with costs split between the parties. However, the court cannot order this therapy if one parent has been a victim of domestic abuse committed by the other parent, or if a child has been abused by one of the parents—unless the court finds there are special circumstances that override this protection.

Revise a provision related to civil commitment following a determination of mental incompetency.

HB 1060 clarifies that when a court determines a defendant found mentally incompetent has a good chance of becoming competent within a year, the court **must** order them into a restoration program (rather than simply having the option to do so). The bill also specifies that defendants not considered dangerous to others can be placed on outpatient status for this restoration, giving courts more flexibility in how they handle these cases.

Make an appropriation for grants to support the purchase of telehealth kiosks.

The state will provide $1 million in grants through the Department of Health to help people purchase and operate telehealth kiosks—self-service terminals where people can access remote medical services and health information—in public locations. Priority for these grants goes to counties with small populations (15,000 or fewer) that have below-average life expectancy, or communities that lack easy access to doctors. The Department of Health will set up an application process for people interested in getting these grants.

Provide hearing aids to children and make an appropriation therefor.

South Dakota will increase annual funding from $200,000 to $500,000 per year to help children under age 21 get cochlear implants and hearing aids through the Department of Human Services. The money can pay for these devices for uninsured children or cover the deductibles and coinsurance costs that insurance doesn't pay for insured children.

Establish a biomonitoring pilot program for firefighters and to make an appropriation therefor.

South Dakota's Department of Public Safety will launch a pilot program to test firefighters for exposure to "forever chemicals" (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) by collecting and analyzing blood samples from interested firefighters with at least one year of service. The department will share test results with participants, assess any health risks from elevated chemical levels, and identify whether certain regions of the state show higher exposure rates. This creates a new health monitoring program with no changes to existing law.

Require the coverage of biomarker testing in certain health insurance policies.

Starting January 1, 2026, health insurance policies sold in South Dakota must cover biomarker testing (blood, tissue, or other specimen analysis that identifies disease markers) when a doctor orders it for diagnosis, treatment, or monitoring of a patient's condition, as long as the testing is supported by medical evidence. The requirement applies to both individual and group health insurance policies, though it excludes limited-benefit plans like disease-specific coverage.