The South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee discussed Senate Bill 83 Thursday, which would reform the state’s drug ingestion law.
South Dakota remains the only state where illegal drug ingestion is classified as a felony under SDCL 22-42-5.1.
Senator Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, the bill’s sponsor, presented statistics about state incarceration rates. South Dakota ranks 46th in population but 15th in incarceration rates nationally. As of December 31, 2024, she said 279 individuals were incarcerated for ingestion-related offenses, costing taxpayers $33 million annually.
“We are staring straight down the barrel of a terribly expensive $1 billion prison,” Grove said during her testimony. “Treatment courts are so successful that for every dollar we spend, we get $27 back,” she said, proposing rehabilitation alternatives.
States’ attorneys opposed the reform. Tom Wollman, Lincoln County State’s Attorney, testified that current law mandates probationary sentences for first-time offenders through previous reforms.
“It is very, very rare that an individual ends up one-day ingesting methamphetamine and the next day wakes up in the penitentiary. It does not happen in practice,” Wollman said. He noted that incarceration occurs after multiple probation violations.
The Department of Corrections reported 19 addiction counselors for 3,500 offenders with substance use disorders, with 40 positions unfilled.
The bill would make first and second ingestion offenses misdemeanors, requiring evaluation and treatment, while keeping felony charges for third offenses.
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