South Dakota
Diversion programs for youth increase after boost to county funding • South Dakota Searchlight
A 2023 bill that paved the way for higher payments to counties that keep kids out of the justice system has increased the number of diversion offers from prosecutors across South Dakota.
That was among the takeaways from an annual juvenile justice report presented recently to the state’s Juvenile Justice Oversight Council.
Senate Bill 5, passed in 2023, extended the lifespan of the council, a group created in 2015 alongside a sweeping juvenile justice reform package that aimed to reduce the number of youth in secure detention. The reforms were meant to avoid the harms associated with incarceration for children and offer more fiscally responsible alternatives. Locking up children costs considerably more than probation supervision or in-community programming.
The bill also empowered the council to make adjustments to things like the amount of money paid per kid for diversion programs. The council recommended offering $750 to counties for each successful diversion, a $500 increase. The Department of Corrections (DOC) sponsored a successful bill to boost that funding during the 2024 session.
In the past nine years, counties have collected $4.2 million in incentives from the state.
Avoiding a judge
Children are not charged with crimes in the juvenile justice system, but rather “adjudicated” for the alleged commission of a criminal act. With diversion programs, prosecutors use a report from law enforcement for criminal behavior as the starting point for a set of actions an accused child must take to avoid seeing the incident move through a formal adjudication.
A child charged with alcohol consumption, for example, might be asked to complete a substance abuse evaluation and to check in with the prosecutor’s office monthly while maintaining good behavior for a few months. If the child satisfies the diversion requirements, their case will be closed without them ever seeing a judge.
Juvenile justice report: More delinquent kids taken to court
According to the annual report presented to the oversight council on Tuesday, diversion programming increased for the most common juvenile infractions in 2024.
The last fiscal year “saw two times as many kids getting diversion opportunities from where we started” with the reforms nearly 10 years ago, according to Kristi Bunkers, an oversight council member who leads the DOC’s juvenile justice programming.
Those opportunities translate into better long-term outcomes for troubled youth, Bunkers told the oversight group.
“The research continues to come out in support of diversion,” she said. “It’s a really promising window of opportunity for the system to get it right.”
About 82% of the 2,439 kids offered diversion programming last year were successful, the annual report says. The year before that, there were 2,180 diversions, and just over 83% were successful.
Diversions for alcohol and drugs, crimes against property and persons, sex offenses and tobacco use increased in 2024, according to the report.
Truancy, however, saw fewer diversions than in 2023, down to 270 from 313 in 2023. There were 694 and 565 in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Homeschooling concerns with truancy
David Knoff, a First Circuit judge and oversight council member, said the council’s truancy subgroup met three or four times this year to discuss the issue. Truancy is when a kid is chronically absent from school. Knoff was among the council members to note that truancy cases often suggest deeper issues in a child’s home life.
A child has often missed weeks or months of school by the time a case lands in court, Knoff said, so the subgroup was focused on finding out ways to intervene sooner. The Department of Social Services’ Division of Behavioral Health offers programming to kids and families, serving 4,775 youth in individual or family sessions in 2024.
Cultural healing camps, equine therapy: Federal diversion grants for kids awarded across SD
“How do we make the family aware of how they can tap into those resources, or school districts, how they can get those to the families and get them tapped in to see that they can qualify and get the counseling they need to find out what kind of issues are going on within the homes,” Knoff said.
Knoff also talked about the possibility that truancy cases have been affected by a 2021 law making it easier for parents to pull their children from school and place them in “alternative instruction” such as online schooling or homeschooling.
The law change struck down things like testing requirements and instruction time requirements, and removed a clause that allowed the state’s Department of Education to investigate situations where there’s concern a child might not be getting the instruction they’re required to under state law.
If a child is pulled from school for in-home instruction, Knoff said, “then there is no truancy.”
Knoff said he and others on the council are concerned that some students’ attendance and participation have suffered in certain homeschooling situations.
“It’s not that homeschooling itself is the problem,” Knoff said. “It’s certain parents who maybe don’t have the ability or resources to be able to effectively homeschool, and they can just pull their kid out of school, which has a lot of long-term effects.”
Council member Tiffany Wolfgang of the DSS will leave state government, and the council, at the end of the year after nearly three decades in various social service roles. Wolfgang told the council that as valuable as state-level reports and oversight can be, local school districts and community leaders are critical to crafting the approach to things like truancy.
“Truancy really is a local, local issue in really, truly needing to get the players at the local level in a room together, communicating and talking about what resources we have,” Wolfgang said. “How do we want to address truancy in this community and who needs to talk to whom?”
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South Dakota
PBR | No. 1 John Crimber goes 4-for-4, tops final three rounds to win First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls
Using his pick for an opportunity to compete head-to-head against Lights Out, who has now paired in the Championship round on seven event-winning rides this season, Crimber punctuated his 4-for-4 weekend with a round-winning 91.50 points on Western sports’ ultimate money bull.
The 20-year-old took home 196.5 UTB points for his second event win of the year and improved his lead to 220.5 points over No. 2 Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma) – the largest lead the tour’s No. 1-ranked cowboy has had over No. 2 all season.
After his shoulder dislocated on his first attempt earlier in the round, Kimzey made the most of his Round 3 re-ride dance with Jameson (89.30 points) to sneak into the short go with one ride score. However, he finished the weekend 1-for-4, unable to end Magic Potion’s PBR record-holding buckoff streak, which the bovine advanced to 59 in bucking off the only cowboy who has ever lasted 8 seconds on him in 4.51 seconds.
Claudio Montanha Jr. (Ribeirao dos Indios, Brazil) exited Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in second place as the top-performing rider to go 3-for-4. The 36-year-old cowboy wasn’t able to convert in Round 3 but rebounded in the Championship Round in thrilling fashion.
Montanha Jr. opted into a short round dance with Hard Times and matched the bull’s every move en route to recording a career-high 91.25 points.
Successful in seven of his last eight outs, he netted 110 UTB points for his season-best runner-up finish and improved from No. 18 to No. 13.
Daniel Keeping (Montague, Texas) recorded a season-high third-place finish in Sioux Falls after becoming the first man to go 3-for-3 Sunday. Keeping bested Tecovas Triple Aught for 88.20 points in Round 3 to earn the second selection in Sunday’s bull draft.
The top-ranked contender in this year’s YETI Championship bull race, No. 1 Pegasus, tossed Keeping to the ground in 4.06 seconds to end the rider’s perfect showing while defending his spot atop the world title hunt.
Keeping earned a crucial 91.5 UTB points and advanced from cutoff bubble territory at No. 32 all the way up to No. 20 courtesy of his clutch weekend.
Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil) finished in fourth place as the third and final rider to produce a 3-for-4 slate.
The veteran began his afternoon by going the distance atop Best Bet (87 points) to punch his ticket to Sunday’s short round. Castro later survived the requisite 8 aboard Ice Tray and earned but declined a re-ride, opting to keep his 72.15 points and end his weekend with a 245.50-point aggregate score.
He gained 61 UTB points for his fourth-place finish and improved from No. 26 to No. 19.
Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) rounded out the Top 5.
Barbosa parlayed his career-high 93.10-point ride on Pegasus in Round 1 on Friday night with an 84.85-point conversion atop Rip in Round 3 to earn fifth-place honors.
He took home a critical 64 UTB points, advancing from No. 45 to No. 38 with two events remaining before the tour invades Cowtown Coliseum and Dickies Arena for the PBR World Finals (May 7-17) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ransom earned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event title for bucking off Brady Fielder (Clermont, Australia) in 5.63 seconds during the opening round.
Several of this year’s YETI World Championship Bull contenders produced 45-plus-point scores throughout the weekend, including Ransom (46.15), Eyes On Me (45.60), Red Demon (45.40), Fire Zone (45.15) and No.1 Pegasus (45.60, 45.30), who remains atop the title race standings.
PBR’s Unleash The Beast next bucks into Metra Park – First Interstate Arena in Billings, Montana, for PBR Billings April 17-18.
Action for PBR Billings, the penultimate event of the 2026 regular season, starts at 6:45 p.m. MT, with Round 1 coverage set to begin on Paramount+ at 7 p.m. MT.
Unleash The Beast – First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls
Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. John Crimber, 86.95-89.4-89.95-91.5-357.80-196.5 Points.
2. Claudio Montanha Jr., 86.95-87.7-0-91.25-265.90-110 Points.
3. Daniel Keeping, 89-86.65-88.2-0-263.85-91.5 Points.
4. Luciano De Castro, 0-86.25-87-72.15-245.40-61 Points.
5. Dener Barbosa, 93.1-0-84.85-0-177.95-64 Points.
6. Alex Cerqueira, 0-88.55-87.7-0-176.25-52 Points.
7. Daylon Swearingen, 88.55-86.05-0-0-174.60-37 Points.
8. Alex Junior da Silva, 87.75-86.65-0-0-174.40-33.5 Points.
9. Sage Steele Kimzey, 0-0-89.3-0-89.30-23 Points.
10. Jess Lockwood, 89.15-0-0-0-89.15-21 Points.
11. Eduardo Aparecido, 88.85-0-0-0-88.85-18 Points.
12. Cort McFadden, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-14 Points.
13. Kase Hitt, 0-87.7-0-0-87.70-16.5 Points.
14. Bob Mitchell, 0-87.35-0-0-87.35-15 Points.
15. Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-87.15-0-87.15-15 Points.
16. Bruno Carvalho, 0-0-86.95-0-86.95-13 Points.
17. Alan de Souza, 0-86.8-0-0-86.80-14 Points.
18. Marco Rizzo, 0-85.85-0-0-85.85-9 Points.
19. João Ricardo Vieira, 0-84.45-0-0-84.45-8 Points.
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Maverick Smith, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cassio Dias, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Andy Guzman, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0-0.00
JaCauy Hale, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Elijah Jennings, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Damien Krushall, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Romario Leite, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Zane Cook, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Macaulie Leather, 0-0-0-0-0.00
2026 Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. John Crimber, 16, 2, 6, 899.50, $193,100.00
2. Sage Steele Kimzey, 14, 3, 4, 679.00, $178,737.62
3. Leandro Zampollo, 14, 0, 6, 595.50, $121,150.12
4. Brady Fielder, 16, 2, 4, 593.00, $151,204.17
5. Alex Cerqueira, 16, 0, 3, 502.50, $87,565.00
6. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 16, 1, 6, 492.00, $106,855.00
7. Dalton Kasel, 14, 2, 4, 488.50, $130,098.33
8. Clay Guiton, 8, 0, 4, 409.50, $89,715.48
9. Cort McFadden, 13, 0, 2, 406.00, $50,280.48
10. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 15, 1, 1, 405.00, $71,991.67
11. Julio Cesar Marques, 15, 0, 3, 392.00, $73,105.48
11. Marco Rizzo, 16, 1, 3, 392.00, $94,090.00
13. Claudio Montanha Jr., 16, 0, 3, 389.00, $68,182.14
14. Maverick Smith, 15, 0, 2, 367.00, $64,708.33
15. Daylon Swearingen, 12, 1, 1, 362.50, $109,300.00
16. Cassio Dias, 16, 1, 1, 340.50, $64,240.48
17. Kaiden Loud, 15, 0, 3, 336.00, $54,613.33
18. Bob Mitchell, 13, 0, 2, 303.00, $41,731.67
19. Luciano De Castro, 14, 0, 3, 249.00, $37,952.98
20. Daniel Keeping, 15, 0, 1, 247.00, $35,475.00
21. Koltin Hevalow, 16, 0, 1, 246.50, $40,933.33
22. Jess Lockwood, 6, 1, 1, 236.00, $69,325.00
23. Andrew Alvidrez, 15, 1, 1, 229.00, $60,883.33
24. Thiago Salgado, 14, 0, 0, 224.00, $33,500.00
25. Callum Miller, 14, 0, 2, 209.00, $25,197.14
26. Felipe Furlan, 10, 0, 3, 197.00, $39,197.14
27. Kaique Pacheco, 16, 0, 1, 195.50, $18,225.00
28. Bruno Carvalho, 11, 0, 0, 190.50, $7,600.00
29. Alan de Souza, 15, 0, 1, 190.00, $19,650.00
30. Jose Vitor Leme, 10, 0, 1, 181.50, $25,350.00
31. Eduardo Aparecido, 15, 0, 1, 181.00, $31,890.00
32. Hudson Bolton, 8, 0, 1, 173.00, $38,062.50
33. Kase Hitt, 13, 0, 1, 147.00, $16,132.14
34. Lucas Divino, 11, 0, 1, 141.00, $15,050.00
35. Afonso Quintino, 15, 0, 0, 127.00, $11,307.14
36. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 11, 0, 1, 112.00, $18,000.00
37. Kade Madsen, 5, 0, 0, 106.00, $3,150.00
38. Dener Barbosa, 2, 0, 1, 100.00, $10,000.00
39. João Ricardo Vieira, 12, 0, 0, 92.50, $6,683.33
40. Trace Redd, 5, 0, 1, 87.00, $15,800.00
41. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 16, 0, 0, 86.00, $11,100.00
42. Austin Richardson, 8, 0, 0, 80.50, $12,875.00
43. Andy Guzman, 11, 0, 0, 78.00, $11,550.00
44. Alison dos Santos, 9, 0, 0, 65.00, $5,100.00
45. Alex Junior da Silva, 4, 0, 0, 62.50, $3,775.00
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media
South Dakota
South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation provides donation matching funds to support Nebraska Wildfire Relief
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(SOUTH DAKOTA NEWS WATCH) – South Dakota has one of the lowest overall state tax burdens in the country, largely because it does not tax individual income and lacks several major statewide taxes.
The Tax Foundation ranks South Dakota No. 2 in the State Tax Competitiveness Index when factoring in corporate, individual, sales, property and unemployment insurance taxes. Wyoming is No. 1 overall.
South Dakota is ranked No. 1 in corporate taxes and No. 1 in individual taxes. The state’s lack of an income tax helps keep overall state and local tax burdens among the lowest in the nation.
However, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy regularly ranks South Dakota among the states with the most regressive tax systems, meaning lower-income households pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than higher-income households.
South Dakota does not have an estate tax, inheritance tax or corporate income tax.
This fact brief responds to conversations such as this one.
Sources
The Tax Foundation, State Tax Competitive Index
Fidelity, The best state for taxes
Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, ITEP Tax Inequality Index
The Tax Foundation, Taxes in South Dakota
South Dakota News Watch partners with Gigafact to publish fact briefs that refute or confirm a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context. Send questions or feedback to news@sdnewswatch.org. Submit a question for us to answer on the tipline.
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