South Dakota Legislature
The South Dakota Legislature is the state's bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Entries naming it record bills it passed codifying definitions of sex in state law and altering state recognition and record-keeping, generally alongside the governor who signed them.
2026 Events (2)
South Dakota Gov. Rhoden signed HB1184 codifying binary sex definitions and ending state recognition of transgender people
On March 30, 2026, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed HB1184, "Define man and woman throughout the state," into law after the Legislature passed it by votes of 57-9 in the House and 30-4 in the Senate. The law establishes binary statutory definitions of "man," "woman," "male," and "female" based on reproductive biology at birth throughout South Dakota code and prohibits the use of state funds for anything contrary to those definitions. It removes legal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people across state government.
South Dakota Gov. Rhoden signed SB 175 requiring proof of citizenship for new voter registrations
On March 26, 2026, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed Senate Bill 175, requiring documentary proof of citizenship — a birth certificate, passport, driver's license, or similar document — from anyone registering to vote in the state for the first time, effective immediately under an emergency clause ahead of the June 2 primary. Voters who don't provide such documentation are still registered but receive a "federal-only" ballot excluding them from state and local races, and the law separately requires a physical South Dakota address, barring mail-forwarding services or P.O. boxes, for state and local registration. By May 2026, roughly 1,500 South Dakota voters had been registered as federal-only under the law.
2025 Events (2)
South Dakota Gov. Rhoden signed HB1259 restricting multi-occupancy bathrooms and changing rooms to sex assigned at birth
On March 21, 2025, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed House Bill 1259, requiring people to use multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms in public facilities — including public schools, courthouses, and libraries — that correspond to their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer, passed the House 58-9 and the Senate 27-6. It functionally bars transgender people from using covered public facilities consistent with their gender identity.
South Dakota Legislature referred Amendment L, raising constitutional-amendment threshold to 60%, a bar past citizen wins wouldn't have cleared
On March 10, 2025, the South Dakota State Senate voted 29-4 to give final passage to House Joint Resolution 5003, referring Constitutional Amendment L to the November 2026 ballot; the measure would raise the threshold to approve any constitutional amendment from a simple majority to 60%. All four constitutional amendments South Dakota voters have approved since 2020 -- including a 2022 Medicaid-expansion measure that passed with 56% support over opposition from the Republican-controlled Legislature, which holds 97 of 105 seats -- would have failed under the proposed threshold.
2023 Events (1)
South Dakota Gov. Noem signed HB1080, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors
On February 13, 2023, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1080, the "Help Not Harm" Act, barring health care professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgical interventions to transgender minors for the purpose of gender transition. Providers already treating trans minors were required to taper them off medication by December 31, 2023, and violators face license revocation and civil liability. South Dakota became one of the first states in 2023 to enact such a ban.
2022 Events (1)
South Dakota Gov. Noem signed SB 46, barring transgender athletes from female school and college sports
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed SB 46, "An Act to protect fairness in women's sports," on February 3, 2022, after it passed both chambers of the legislature in late January. The law requires K-12, intramural, club, and college athletic teams sponsored or sanctioned by an accredited school, school district, activities association, or the state Board of Regents or Board of Technical Education to be designated by biological sex, barring transgender girls and women from competing on female teams. South Dakota was the first state to enact such a law in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
2017 Events (1)
South Dakota Gov. Daugaard signed SB 149, shielding taxpayer-funded child-placement agencies that refuse LGBTQ+ parents
On March 10, 2017, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed Senate Bill 149 into law, making South Dakota the first state to enact anti-LGBTQ legislation in 2017. The law bars the state from taking adverse action -- revoking licenses, contracts, tax-exempt status, or state-benefit-program participation -- against taxpayer-funded, religiously affiliated child-placement agencies that decline, on religious or moral grounds, to place children with LGBTQ+ or other prospective parents. The South Dakota Legislature passed the bill 43-20 in the House and 27-8 in the Senate before it reached Daugaard's desk.