PIERRE — The South Dakota Senate voted 18-17 on Tuesday at the Capitol to advance a bill mandating public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom and teach their historical significance.

The bill now heads to the state House of Representatives.

Sen. John Carley, R-Piedmont, proposed the legislation. 

“These are historical principles that have been used in the tradition and founding of America,” Carley said. 

Opponents characterized the bill as a violation of the federal First Amendment constitutional principle of separation of church and state, and as a burdensome, unnecessary mandate. 

Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, a former public school teacher, said schools already have the option to display the commandments. They are also required to display the national motto, “In God We Trust,” due to state legislation adopted six years ago. 

“I’m sitting here in a room full of people that believe in smaller government, less government,” Smith said, referring to the Republican-dominated state Senate. “And we’re making a mandate.”

The bill would require 8-by-14-inch posters with “easily readable font.” Schools would have to additionally display a three-part, roughly 225-word statement near the posters containing information about the commandments’ historical significance. 

The legislation would replace existing language in state law allowing local school boards to choose to display the Ten Commandments.

The bill would also require the Ten Commandments to be taught as part of history and civics classes three times during a student’s education — at least once during each of the elementary, middle and high school years. Additional provisions in the bill would require instruction on the state and federal constitutions, the federal Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

The bill would require the Ten Commandments to be presented “as a historical legal document, including the influence of the Ten Commandments on the legal, ethical, and other cultural traditions of Western civilization.”

Carley said displaying and teaching the commandments would instill a moral grounding in students.

He pointed to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which he said upheld public religious displays rooted in tradition. The ruling upheld a football coach’s post-game prayer as protected free speech and religious expression, emphasizing it was personal, voluntary and non-coercive. 

Sen. Lauren Nelson, R-Yankton, said the South Dakota bill is not coercive.

“It’s not about forcing people to believe a certain way, but about understanding where we came from as a country,” Nelson said.

Video of a Jan. 28, 2025, debate in the South Dakota Senate about legislation that would mandate the teaching and display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. (Courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting)

Sen. Red Dawn Foster, D-Pine Ridge, unsuccessfully proposed an amendment that would have allowed schools to substitute a list of Native American values for the commandments. 

She said many Native Americans view the bill as perpetuating the historical policies of federal boarding schools, where Indigenous children were forced to speak English, convert to Christianity and forsake their own cultural practices.

Carley replied that he didn’t see any documentation that the list of Native American values proposed for inclusion by Foster had an “influence on the foundation of America.”

Sen. David Wheeler, R-Huron, is a lawyer. He raised the specter of lawsuits, pointing to ongoing litigation against a similar law in Louisiana. That state became the first to enact a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms. 

“It’s a guaranteed lawsuit,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler did not vote in favor of the bill, but he did convince senators to add an amendment that would require the state attorney general to defend any lawsuits arising from the legislation at the state’s expense, rather than burdening local school districts.  

We’ve reported how several eminent domain bills have been introduced in the Oklahoma legislature which convenes its 2025 session next week.

Legislators will trail two other states where eminent domain for development of energy projects drew opposition. The South Dakota House passed a bill 49-19 to ban the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, sending the legislation to the state Senate. (South Dakota Searchlight)

The South Dakota Searchlight reported the proposed $9 billion Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline drew opposition over the possible use of eminent domain. However, the bill that received approval this week would not prevent construction of the pipeline.

“They just don’t get the supreme power of eminent domain to force their projects down the throats of South Dakota people,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore Karla Lems who owns land near the proposed pipeline. The Summit pipeline proposes to transport some of the CO2 emitted from 57 ethanol plants in five surrounding states and move it to an underground storage site in North Dakota.

The North Dakota legislature plans to hold hearings this week on a series of carbon pipeline bills, including one prohibiting the use of eminent domain during development. The bills were sparked by the same Summit pipeline.

One bill, House Bill 1414 specifies that the state may not use eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines and revokes common carrier status for carbon pipelines, reported the North Dakota Monitor.

Under the bill, solar, wind and hydrogen energy projects would also not be allowed to use eminent domain.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Governor Rhoden has been sworn in as one of the state’s few West River governors in history.

Senate Majority Whip Randy Deibert expressed optimism on having a leader from the area, saying leadership from West River has decreased from the past. Deibert highlighted Rhoden’s long experience in the legislature saying he’s well-educated on the process. The senator says West River issues he would like to address with the new governor include a proposed water use permit, managing natural resources in the Black Hills and managing public lands.

“Those are all issues the state needs to be involved with to keep the producers, agricultural producers flourishing and our tourism industry flourishing, and those are big things out west that sometimes people forget. And, you know, I think having that rural background and that knowledge of the area will help with that,” Deibert said.

Representative Trish Ladner has her sights set on different issues she would like to take on with the new governor.

“I think, in general, of course, everyone’s is taxes. Property taxes, that to me is the biggest, for West River, eminent domain seems like it’s far away but in principle I think that’s important,” Ladner said.

Rhoden is expected to announce his pick for Lieutenant Governor this week. That nominee will need to be confirmed by both legislative chambers. Ladner says she would like to see a team player take the post.

“Team player that supports the legislature, supports the people of the state and supports the Governor, I think that’s very important,” Ladner explained, “Governor Rhoden was very supportive of Governor Noem, and she appreciated it a lot I’m sure, so I would like the same thing and same type of support for him.”

Members of South Dakota’s federal delegation have all expressed support for Rhoden’s new job. Senator Mike Rounds told KOTA he thinks Rhoden will do an “excellent job.”

“South Dakota is in good hands,” Rounds said.

Senator Mike Rounds touching on Rhoden’s long experience in state politics, says Rhoden understands the roles of the legislature and lieutenant governor.

“In the legislative process, coordination between the Governor’s office and the legislature really does help, and I think he’ll have excellent lines of communication with both House members and Senate members,” Rounds explained.

Rounds served as South Dakota’s 31st Governor from 2003 to 2011.

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