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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.

Provide an exception for employers to acquire and distribute opioid antagonists that are available over the counter.

HB 1141 allows employers to freely acquire and distribute over-the-counter opioid antagonists (like naloxone/Narcan) to employees and the public without needing to follow the strict protocols currently required for prescription versions, such as having a licensed health care professional dispense them or providing specific training. The bill also protects employers and their staff from liability if someone is harmed or dies from the administration, self-administration, or failure to administer an over-the-counter opioid antagonist, as long as there's no gross negligence involved.

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.

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.