Search

revise provisions related to the practice of addiction counseling and prevention services.

HB 1029 reorganizes South Dakota's regulation of addiction counselors and prevention specialists by clarifying the Board of Addiction and Prevention Professionals' role in licensing, certifying, and disciplining these professionals. The bill expands the list of professional titles regulated under state law to include peer support specialists and various trainee and supervisee positions, and adds a new requirement that the board ensure practitioner competency and public safety. Key changes include streamlined examination requirements tied to national standards and updated disciplinary procedures for practitioners who violate professional standards.

make an appropriation for a non-residential, school-based, therapeutic services facility in Brown County and to declare an emergency.

South Dakota is appropriating $2 million to the Department of Education to fund a nonprofit organization that will build and operate a facility providing therapy and educational services to students in alternative school settings in Brown County. The nonprofit must have experience offering integrated education and mental health services through partnerships with schools, and cannot use the funds for residential care or inpatient treatment. The bill declares an emergency so the funding can take effect immediately.

require that certain mental health information be submitted to and subsequently removed from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

South Dakota will now require prosecutors to report mental health records to the FBI's background check system within two hours (instead of seven days) when someone is found not guilty by reason of insanity or deemed incompetent to stand trial, allowing the system to flag these individuals as prohibited from purchasing firearms. The bill also establishes a process for removing this information from the national database once certain legal conditions are met. These reports will contain only identifying information, not medical details about diagnosis or treatment.

encouraging the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council to form an interim legislative committee to study the role and function of county boards of mental illness.

This resolution asks the Legislative Research Council to create a committee that will study how county boards of mental illness operate, including their authority over involuntary commitments and their role in reporting to federal background check systems. The committee will examine whether current laws governing voluntary and involuntary commitment processes are working effectively and how they could better connect with national criminal background checks. This is a study request only—it doesn't change any current laws but directs lawmakers to investigate potential improvements to the mental health commitment system.

establish the crime of failure to summon aid for a suicide attempt and provide a penalty therefor.

This bill creates a new crime called "failure to summon aid for a suicide attempt," making it a Class 1 misdemeanor if someone who is present when another person is attempting suicide intentionally fails to call law enforcement, medical personnel, or other emergency help. The law includes several defenses, such as if the person reasonably feared harm to themselves or others, already believed help was called, is under 18 years old, or couldn't reasonably summon aid in the circumstances.

make an appropriation to implement the rural health transformation program, and to declare an emergency.

South Dakota receives $402 million in federal funding to support the rural health transformation program, which was authorized by federal law passed in July 2025. The Department of Health will manage these funds and must report quarterly to the state legislature on how the money is spent, with any unspent funds reverting back by October 2027.

reschedule the pharmaceutical composition of crystalline polymorph psilocybin in a drug product approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a Schedule IV controlled substance.

South Dakota is reclassifying psilocybin from a banned Schedule I drug to a less-restricted Schedule IV controlled substance, but only when it's in a specific crystalline form approved by the FDA as a pharmaceutical product. This change allows FDA-approved psilocybin medications to be legally used in the state while keeping naturally occurring psilocybin illegal.

authorize a comprehensive study of juvenile correctional and residential facilities, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.

South Dakota's Department of Corrections will study juvenile correctional and residential facilities in other states to identify best practices in areas like rehabilitation programs, mental health services, and staff-to-youth ratios. The state is appropriating $50,000 for the study, which must include on-site visits to at least three out-of-state facilities and a report back to lawmakers by September 1, 2026.

make an appropriation for victim services provided by nonprofit organizations.

South Dakota allocates $5.5 million annually to the Department of Public Safety to award grants to nonprofit organizations serving abuse victims, domestic violence survivors, sexual assault victims, and trafficking victims. These grants can fund emergency services, counseling, 24/7 crisis lines, case management, and sexual assault nurse examiners, but cannot start new programs or pay for legal services. The department will prioritize organizations that have already tried to raise their own funding for these services.

revise the medical purpose affirmative defense in cannabis prosecution.

This bill modifies South Dakota's medical cannabis defense by clarifying the amount of cannabis someone can legally possess—allowing up to three ounces plus cannabis products approved by the health department, along with up to four cannabis plants (two flowering and two non-flowering) and their harvest. The defense still requires a doctor's statement that the person has a debilitating medical condition and that cannabis would help them, and any cultivation or storage must happen in a secure location only that person can access.

authorize the possession and self-administration of diabetes medications by a student on school property and at school-related events and activities.

This bill allows students diagnosed with diabetes to carry and use their insulin and diabetes medications on school property and at school events without needing special permission from school officials, as long as their parents provide written authorization and release the school from liability. The change expands existing rules that previously only allowed students to self-administer asthma inhalers and epinephrine auto-injectors to now include diabetes medications and related supplies.

revise the types of community-based providers for purposes of state funded services.

This bill expands the types of health care and social service providers eligible to receive state funding (including Medicaid and federal grants) by adding critical access hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers to the list of covered community-based providers. The bill also gives the secretaries of the Department of Social Services and Department of Human Services flexibility to add other provider types they deem appropriate without needing legislative approval.