South Dakota
Legislative Update from the South Dakota State Capitol
Yes, the legislative session is over—except for Veto Day on Monday, March 31. We are grateful that Gov. Rhoden has signed almost all of the bills we worked on, except for HB1169, which he recently vetoed. As a result, we urge you to contact your two representatives and your senator and ask them to support HB1169 by overriding the governor’s veto.
HB1169 is a bill that would require signatures on an initiated petition for a constitutional amendment to be a representation of each of the 35 legislative districts. It should be difficult to make changes to our Constitution. The Constitution outlines the structure of government and is not intended to reflect the whims of current ideas. Once an article of the Constitution is amended, it isn’t easy to revert to the original article. Take, for example, the institution of video lottery in 1989. This was introduced through a change to the South Dakota Constitution in November 1988. Since then, we have attempted unsuccessfully several times to repeal video lottery.
In our recent 2024 election, attempts were made to amend our Constitution to make unfettered abortion legal in our state. Amendment H would have also installed “open primaries” into our Constitution. Thankfully, these measures were defeated.
HB1169 will prevent those seeking signatures on petitions from getting them only in and around Sioux Falls or Rapid City. Petition drivers will be required to obtain signatures from the less populated areas as well to gain a full representation of our state.
HB1169 passed with a veto-proof majority in the House 63-6; we are hopeful that these representatives will retain their Yes vote. However, the Senate vote of 19-15 is not veto-proof. We need 24 senators to submit a Yes vote.
You have until March 30 to make your voice heard.
ACTION: Contact your state senator and urge them to vote Yes to override the Governor’s veto on HB1169. Click here if you don’t know who your state senator is. Inform them that changing our Constitution should be a difficult process. Please also contact your two representatives and thank them if they voted Yes and/or urge them to vote Yes again on HB1169. Please let your representatives know that you are being kept informed by Concerned Women for America of South Dakota.
PRAYER: Father, Thank You that You are able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. We are grateful for the many bills that were passed and signed by Gov. Rhoden. We thank you for our South Dakota Constitution and the freedoms we enjoy and ask that this final bill be passed and put into law. We are humbly grateful for the freedom we have in Christ who blesses us with His grace and salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Thank you for your consistent prayers and actions on behalf of the bills we have been updating you about, as well as the many kind words that have been expressed as we lobbied, attended meetings, and testified before committees at the state capitol every week. We are grateful!
South Dakota
South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with $69 million surplus
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South Dakota
SD Lottery Millionaire for Life winning numbers for July 12, 2026
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 12, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 12 drawing
12-21-39-46-48, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
South Dakota
Incarcerated women to move into new Rapid City prison to alleviate overcrowding
RAAPID CITY, S.D. — Incarcerated women will start moving into a new $87 million prison in Rapid City next month, a South Dakota Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed this week.
The medium-security prison will be the state’s second for women. The South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre has operated beyond its capacity for years, with dozens of people serving their sentences at the Hughes County Jail or in halfway house facilities.
The new prison in Rapid City, which was approved by state lawmakers
in 2023
, will add 288 beds to the state’s capacity. The Department of Corrections will begin transferring women there next month, according to spokesperson Michael Winder, who said the exact date of full operations won’t be released for security reasons
The prison includes a work release area, a mother-infant building that lets new moms stay in a home-like environment with their babies, a vocational training facility to be staffed by instructors from Western Dakota Technical Institute and 96 beds for chemical dependency treatment.
The majority of the women held in South Dakota prisons are incarcerated on nonviolent drug charges, and 97% have a substance use disorder diagnosis.
“Drug addiction is a disease that must be treated,” Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb said at Friday’s ribbon cutting, adding that “Through dedicated treatment space and the therapeutic community, women will receive the counseling support and skills that they need to break the cycle of addiction and successfully return to their families and communities.”
The mother-infant program
mirrors one launched a few years ago in Pierre
.
Mothers who qualify under security guidelines stay in a group home separate from the main prison facility with other women and children for the first few years of their child’s life. The program was launched by former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko and was championed by Lamb in his first public conversations with lawmakers on the state’s budget committee during the 2026 legislative session.
Photo courtesy Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office
At Friday’s event, Gov. Larry Rhoden said family connections and parenting skills are key factors in rehabilitation. He framed the program as an extension of a commitment to the well-being of South Dakota families.
“This program gives mothers and their children the opportunity to build that foundation from the very beginning,” Rhoden said.
Rhoden also called out the vocational training, drug treatment and work release programs as vital to rehabilitation — and to public safety by extension. The state recently broke ground on a new $650 million men’s prison in Sioux Falls, which is set to replace the state penitentiary and is also designed to expand programming and rehabilitation.
When combined with pending policy recommendations from the state’s correctional rehabilitation task force, Rhoden said, the new prisons will help improve public safety statewide by reducing the number of people who return to prison within a few years of their release.
“At the end of the day, every person in our corrections system is a human being,” Rhoden said. “They are sons and daughters. They are mothers and fathers. People who’ve made mistakes but also have the capacity to change.”
Winder, the corrections spokesman, told South Dakota Searchlight that staff will spend the next few weeks training at the new facility in preparation for the arrival of inmates in August.
The state hired Eric Aldridge
to serve as warden in March
. Aldridge, who came to South Dakota after a stint as warden of a medium-security women’s prison in Troy, Virginia, said Friday his goal is to “to facilitate an environment, an atmosphere, a culture where people learn, they grow, they heal, and where people develop through dignity and respect.”
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