South Dakota's new marriage law raises the minimum age requirement to 18 years old for all marriages, unless a minor at least 16 years old obtains a court order or parental consent. When minors marry, the law now requires a court hearing where a judge determines the marriage is voluntary and in the minor's best interest, and it prohibits marriages where the age difference between partners exceeds four years.
The amendment narrows the age gap exception for minors seeking marriage by reducing the maximum allowable age difference from ten years to four years, and adds a 30-day waiting period after court approval before a marriage license can be issued. This significantly STRENGTHENS protections for minor applicants by making it harder for minors to marry substantially older individuals and by building in additional time for reflection.
The amendment replaces a simplified consent framework (requiring either parental consent or a court order) with a more detailed tiered system that distinguishes between cases where one minor or both minors are seeking marriage, specifying different consent requirements for each scenario (two parents, one legal guardian, or combinations thereof). This change NARROWS and COMPLICATES the bill's original purpose by adding more specific procedural requirements rather than streamlining the marriage consent process.
The amendment substantially strengthens the bill's restrictions on child marriage by establishing that both applicants must be at least 18 years old at the time the license is issued, with limited exceptions requiring either a circuit court order (with specific judicial findings about safety and welfare, plus a 30-day waiting period) or written consent from two parents/guardians, plus a four-year age-difference cap. The changes replace the previous system that allowed 16-17 year-olds to marry with just one parent's consent, making South Dakota's marriage age requirements significantly more protective of minors.
The enrolled version removed the detailed substantive provisions allowing minors aged 16-18 to marry with parental consent and replaced them with largely blank signature and certification pages, effectively gutting the bill into a shell document that no longer contains the marriage age requirements it was meant to establish. This transforms SB159 from a functional legislative act into what appears to be a placeholder awaiting actual content, completely undermining its stated purpose of revising minimum age requirements for marriage.
Other amendments
Signed by the Governor S.J. 549
Delivered to the Governor S.J. 539
Signed by the Speaker H.J. 560
Signed by the President S.J. 525
Senate Concurred in amendments Passed, YEAS 31, NAYS 3. S.J. 512
House of Representatives Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 40, NAYS 27. H.J. 526
State Affairs Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 5.
State Affairs Motion to amend
State Affairs Scheduled for hearing
First read in House and referred to House State Affairs H.J. 445
Senate Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 25, NAYS 8. S.J. 379
Senate Motion to amend S.J. 377
Senate Deferred to another day S.J. 355
Judiciary Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 5, NAYS 2. S.J. 25
Judiciary Motion to amend Passed, YEAS 4, NAYS 3. S.J. 25
Judiciary Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
Judiciary Scheduled for hearing
First read in Senate and referred to Senate Judiciary S.J. 140
Prime sponsor · Sen.
R
Concurred in amendments
Do Pass Amended
State Affairs — Do Pass Amended
Do Pass Amended
Judiciary — Motion to amend
Judiciary — Do Pass Amended