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authorize boards of county commissioners to adopt policies for investigating allegations of misconduct of county departments, employees, and officers.

County commissioners can now adopt written policies for investigating misconduct by county employees and officials, including abuse of authority, conflicts of interest, and neglect of duties. Any investigation policy must include an investigator from outside the department being investigated, establish confidentiality and fairness rules, and follow the state's removal procedures for county officers.

limit the liability of law enforcement officers and others when removing a disabled vehicle from a highway, a right of way, or public waters.

This bill protects law enforcement officers, highway patrol agents, and towing companies from liability when they remove disabled or obstructed vehicles from highways and public areas—meaning the vehicle owner generally cannot sue them for damage to the vehicle unless the officers act with gross negligence or willful misconduct. The vehicle owner remains responsible for paying all removal costs. This creates a legal safe harbor for officials who need to quickly clear roads of hazardous or abandoned vehicles.

establish provisions relating to the use of military protective orders upon arrest and as evidence in an action for a protection order.

When law enforcement arrests someone associated with the military, they must now check if a military protective order exists against that person in the federal database and notify the issuing military authority if a violation occurred. Additionally, military protective orders can now be used as evidence in South Dakota civil protection order cases to show a pattern of harmful behavior by the respondent.

revise a provision related to driving under the influence.

South Dakota law on repeat drunk driving convictions now requires a mandatory minimum of six years in prison (with at least one year on parole) for sixth or subsequent DUI offenses when the person has five prior DUI convictions within 15 years. The court can only avoid this sentence if it orders the person into a specialized drug, DUI, veterans, or mental health court program, and the law strengthens license revocation requirements and parole monitoring conditions like ignition interlocks or alcohol monitoring devices.