# South Dakota South Dakota does not certify jail or Department of Corrections (DOC) officers, and no state agency sets or inspects county jail standards; each jail adopts its own written policies, and circuit judges may inspect jails. Jail officers must receive state mental health crisis training. Since 2023 the State has closed jail disciplinary records to the public, made prosecuting crimes by DOC inmates a duty of the Attorney General, and, from July 1, 2026, raised the penalty for delivering drugs to inmates and revised release transportation for discharged inmates. Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/south-dakota ## At a glance - **Certifying body:** None for corrections or jail officers. The Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission and the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) set qualifications and training for “law enforcement officers,” defined as state or local employees responsible for preventing and detecting crime and enforcing criminal or traffic laws ([SDCL 23-3-27](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/23-3-27), 23-3-35, 23-3-42); the Commission’s rules (ARSD 2:01) contain no jail or corrections officer provisions. The Commission is covered on the [South Dakota Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/south-dakota). County jail officer training is a subject of each jail’s policies (SDCL 24-11-23(10)). - **Statute:** SDCL Title 24 (penal institutions): chapter 24-2 (state correctional facilities: force, discipline, contraband), [chapter 24-11](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/24-11) (jails), chapter 24-15 (parole). SDCL 23-3-26 to 23-3-47 (law enforcement officer standards and training). - **Minimum standards:** No statutory minimum hiring standards specific to DOC or jail officers were found. The qualification rules in SDCL 23-3-42 and ARSD 2:01:02 apply to law enforcement officers as defined in 23-3-27. - **Basic training:** Jail officers: each jail’s governing body must adopt written policies on “the training of the jailors” (SDCL 24-11-23(10)). Officers in any jail must receive DCI training on recognizing signs and symptoms of mental health problems and defusing mental health crises ([SDCL 24-11-60](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/24-11-60)). No statewide basic course hours for jail or DOC officers were found in statute or rule. - **In-service training:** After the initial mental health crisis training, each jail officer must attend further training at least once every 4 years (SDCL 24-11-60). No other statutory in-service requirement for jail or DOC officers was found. - **Decertification:** None. Corrections and jail officers are not state-certified, so there is no decertification process for them. Law enforcement officer certification and discipline are under the Commission (SDCL 23-3-35; ARSD 2:01; see the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/south-dakota)). - **Jail standards:** No state agency sets or inspects county jail standards. The governing body or commission running each jail must adopt written policies on listed subjects, including classification, supervision, discipline, and jailor training (SDCL 24-11-23). The circuit judge may visit, inspect, and supervise all jails in the circuit and enforce orders by contempt (24-11-27). Private jail contracts must require compliance with any applicable DOC or state agency minimum standards (24-11-42). - **Probation and parole officers:** Parole supervision is a DOC function under SDCL chapter 24-15; adult probation is supervised by Unified Judicial System court services officers. No statutory certification or training-hour requirement for parole agents or court services officers was confirmed, and whether parole agents fall within the law enforcement officer definition in 23-3-27 was not determined. - **Restrictive housing:** No statutory limit on solitary confinement or restrictive housing was found. Statute lists “punitive confinement” and “transfer to a more secure housing unit” among authorized disciplinary sanctions for state inmates (SDCL 24-2-9). - **Corrections use of force:** Officers and employees may use any necessary means, including reasonable force, to maintain order in an adult correctional facility, enforce obedience, suppress insurrections, and prevent escapes, “even at the hazard of life” ([SDCL 24-2-6](https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/24-2-6)). Corporal punishment of inmates in state correctional facilities is prohibited (24-2-9). No statute on restraint of pregnant inmates was found in chapters 24-2 or 24-11. ## Changes, 2023 to 2026 - Jul 1, 2026 — **Delivering drugs to inmates becomes a Class 3 felony; ingestion by inmates and parolees a Class 5 felony** — 2026 SB 42 (SL 2026, ch 115), amending SDCL 24-2-22 and 22-42-5.1 · Effective July 1, 2026 (SDCL 2-14-16; no emergency clause) — Any employee or other person who delivers, or possesses with intent to deliver, to an inmate of a state correctional facility “any prescription or nonprescription drug or controlled substance, as defined by chapter 34-20B, except as authorized by the Department of Corrections,” now commits a Class 3 felony; the 2025 text made it a Class 4 felony. Unlawful ingestion of a controlled substance becomes a Class 5 felony when committed by an inmate in a state correctional facility or by a person on parole supervision. — **For corrections staff:** Bringing drugs to an inmate without DOC authorization is a Class 3 felony, including for employees. — [2026 SB 42 bill page](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26755)[2026 SB 42 enrolled](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/306050.html)[2025 SB 59 enrolled (prior Class 4 text)](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/283820.html) - Jul 1, 2026 — **Release transportation for discharged inmates revised** — 2026 SB 139 (SL 2026, ch 116) · Effective July 1, 2026 (SDCL 2-14-16; no emergency clause) — On discharge from a correctional facility by parole, suspended sentence, or final discharge, “a correctional facility official must provide the inmate with the following, if not already provided”: suitable clothing, a sum of money set by the Secretary of Corrections, and transportation to the county of residence at the time of the offense, the county of sentencing, or a location of equivalent distance, whichever is lesser in mileage. SDCL 24-5-3 already required clothing, money, and transportation on discharge; the act rewrote the section and changed the transportation destinations. The enrolled text dropped the introduced phrase “as chosen by the inmate.” — **For corrections staff:** Release transportation goes to the county of residence, the county of sentencing, or an equally distant location, whichever is the shortest trip. — [2026 SB 139 bill page](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26440)[2026 SB 139 enrolled](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/306425.html) - Jul 1, 2024 — **Attorney General must prosecute crimes by DOC inmates; DOC pays appointed defense counsel** — 2024 HB 1039 (SL 2024, ch 94), amending SDCL 1-11-1 and 23A-40-8 · Effective July 1, 2024 (SDCL 2-14-16; no emergency clause) — A duty of the Attorney General is now “to prosecute any criminal action that was committed by an inmate under confinement in a facility operated by the Department of Corrections” (SDCL 1-11-1(11)). After disposition, DOC must pay court-appointed counsel in those cases (23A-40-8). The act adds a duty for the Attorney General; it does not remove the authority of county state’s attorneys. — **For corrections staff:** The Attorney General now has a statutory duty to prosecute crimes by DOC inmates, and DOC pays appointed defense counsel in those cases. — [2024 HB 1039 bill page](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24854)[2024 HB 1039 enrolled](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/267115.html)[SDCL 1-11-1](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/1-11-1.html) - Jul 1, 2023 — **Jail inmate disciplinary records closed to public inspection** — 2023 SB 53 (SL 2023, ch 6), amending SDCL 1-27-1.5 · Effective July 1, 2023 (SDCL 2-14-16; no emergency clause) — The open-records exemptions now cover “records regarding jail inmate disciplinary matters pursuant to § 24-11-23,” alongside the existing exemption for state inmate disciplinary records under 1-15-20. — **For corrections staff:** Jail inmate disciplinary write-ups and hearing records are exempt from public records requests. — [2023 SB 53 bill page](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/23572)[2023 SB 53 enrolled](https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/251078.html) ## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass No enacted corrections change was found awaiting its effective date. Bills that did not pass were not searched. Effective dates rest on SDCL 2-14-16 (July 1 after passage), because the enrolled texts carry no emergency clause. ## Checked and unchanged - Not counted: 2025 SB 59 (SL 2025, ch 103; effective July 1, 2025) revised SDCL 24-2-14 and 24-2-22 on unauthorized articles in state correctional facilities (cell phones a Class 4 felony, weapons a Class 2 felony, other unauthorized articles a Class 6 felony). The words it changed could not be isolated from the bill markup. - Not counted: 2026 HB 1298 makes it a Class 6 felony to publish electronically a law enforcement officer’s home address, date of birth, or Social Security number with intent to cause fear; whether “law enforcement officer” there covers corrections officers was not determined. - Not verified: DOC administrative rules (ARSD article 17) were not reviewed. - Not verified: SL 2023, ch 82 amended SDCL 24-2-9 (disciplinary sanctions, cited above), 24-2-22, and 24-5-3, per their source notes. That act was not identified or screened.