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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.

Revise presumptive probation.

SB57 expands the types of felonies that must receive presumptive probation by adding numerous offenses (like certain firearm thefts and identity theft crimes) to the list of crimes that were previously excluded from the probation requirement. Courts can still impose prison time instead of probation only if they document specific aggravating circumstances on the record that pose a significant public safety risk.

Repeal capital punishment.

SB 119 eliminates the death penalty as a punishment option in South Dakota by changing Class A felonies from carrying a sentence of "death or life imprisonment" to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment only. This means that convicted murderers would face life in prison rather than execution.

Revise provisions related to the establishment of an initial parole date.

SB64 expands the list of serious crimes that affect when inmates become eligible for parole, adding offenses like terrorism, aggravated kidnapping in the second degree, first degree murder, and attempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer to the existing list. These additions ensure that prisoners convicted of these additional violent crimes follow the same parole eligibility rules as those already on the list, which typically impose stricter requirements before an initial parole date can be set.

Establish the Incarceration Task Force.

This bill creates a new Incarceration Task Force made up of 10 members—including corrections officers, wardens, legislators, and judicial representatives—to independently review how South Dakota builds and improves state prisons. The task force will examine prison construction projects, recommend funding adjustments, evaluate alternative building sites, and study ways to reduce repeat offenses, with the goal of creating a safer and more cost-effective prison system.