South Dakota
Noem signs Indian Child Welfare Council and other bills into law • South Dakota Searchlight
South Dakota will soon have a council devoted to the welfare of Native American children.
Gov. Kristi Noem signed House Bill 1232 this week, which creates the Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council. It will bring together people from the Department of Social Services, South Dakota’s nine tribes, the Legislature, and the field of child welfare for annual conversations.
The group’s work will include finding solutions to the disproportionate number of Native American children in the foster care system. A South Dakota Searchlight and Argus Leader investigation last year found that Native children accounted for nearly 74% of the foster care system, despite accounting for only 13% of the state’s overall child population.
Following are summaries of some other bills Noem signed into law recently as she continues to consider measures passed by the Legislature. The 2024 legislative session ended Thursday, except for one day on March 25 to consider vetoes. Noem had not vetoed any bills as of Friday afternoon.
Prison funding
Senate Bill 50 helps fund the planned construction of a women’s prison in Rapid City by appropriating $2.42 million of remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for water and sewer infrastructure at the site. It also moves $20.89 million into a fund for construction, to pair with $60 million set aside last year toward an estimated cost of $87 million.
“We are saving taxpayer dollars by avoiding future debt and funding this important project now,” Noem said in a news release.
The new prison will ease overcrowding at the existing women’s facility in Pierre. Noem has a similar bill under consideration that would provide funds for the construction of a men’s prison in rural Lincoln County.
Medical marijuana
SB 10 says if a person obtains certification for a medical marijuana card from a practitioner who’s not their primary care provider, that practitioner must notify the patient’s primary care provider or referring practitioner.
Sexual assault allegations
SB 98 establishes the admissibility of suspects’ previous sexual assault allegations in prosecutions of child sexual assaults. Lawmakers rejected a similar bill addressing suspects in adult sexual assault cases.
During testimony on the bills, supporters pointed to federal rules allowing such evidence, written in the 1990s but never adopted in South Dakota.
Guaranteed income ban
SB 115 prevents a county, township or municipality from authorizing a guaranteed basic income program, such as those that have been offered to low-income people in some U.S. cities.
The bill defines a guaranteed income program as “a plan funded or administered by the government under which an individual is provided with regular, unconditional cash payments to be used for any purpose by the individual.” The bill says the term does not include unemployment benefits.
Feral cats
SB 172 allows a person to temporarily take responsibility of a feral cat for the purpose of spaying or neutering the animal.
Carbon pipeline bills
Following through on a pledge she made immediately after the bills’ passage, Noem signed three bills intended to strengthen landowner protections while maintaining a regulatory path forward for a multi-state carbon dioxide pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions.
The bills are HB 1185, HB 1186 and SB 201. Among other things, they require pipeline companies to pay landowners $500 for access to survey land; allow counties to impose a pipeline surcharge of up to $1 per linear foot, with half of the proceeds going to affected landowners as property tax relief; restrict pipeline easements to five years if a project isn’t permitted and to 99 years otherwise; give landowners rights to contest surveys and request survey results; and stipulate that a pipeline permit from the state Public Utilities Commission overrules local pipeline regulations, unless the commission decides to require compliance with local rules.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
google-site-verification: google9919194f75dd62c5.html
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.
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.”
-
Idaho3 minutes agoIdaho attorneys rebuff DOJ threat to prosecute Secretary of State in voter roll dispute
-
Illinois9 minutes ago8 Most Charming Town Squares In Illinois
-
Indiana15 minutes agoACLU of Indiana sues over conditions at Monroe County Jail
-
Iowa21 minutes agoNorthwest Iowa woman taken to the hospital after rollover
-
Kansas27 minutes agoPilot of crop duster plane survives crash Monday in NE Kansas
-
Kentucky33 minutes agoKentucky State Police seeks public vote for national cruiser contest – Winchester Sun
-
Louisiana39 minutes agoLouisiana-based study: Bariatric surgery holds promise for young patients
-
Maine45 minutes agoHigh heat and humidity likely to bring storms to Maine
