Rapid City Republican Rep. Peri Pourier speaks on the floor of the South Dakota House of Representatives during the 2025 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Photo by John Holt/South Dakota Searchlight)
A South Dakota House panel passed a bill Monday morning at the Capitol in Peel that would ban the incarceration of people who cannot afford sobriety programs.
All 12 members of the House Judiciary Committee present — including some lawmakers who had previously opposed banning the practice — agreed. House Bill 1176.
The 24-7 sobriety program allows people charged with alcohol or drug-related crimes, and frequently drunk driving, to get out of jail while awaiting trial on the condition that they comply with and pay for frequent testing to prove their sobriety.
Those who fail the test may be jailed immediately, after which they can go before a judge and request to be admitted to the program again.
Former state attorney general advocates ’24-7′ program as jailing for debt is unconstitutional in US December told South Dakota Searchlight Based on these constitutional concerns, he always directed the sheriff in charge of the program not to jail participants for nonpayment.
But some participants were jailed simply for failure to pay.
Last year, a group of them signed a settlement agreement with Pennington County to resolve a lawsuit over the practice. The county agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution to the main defendant, Ricky Lee Lookback, and $1,000 to each of the 37 other people jailed because they were unable to pay.
The settlement agreement stipulates that no one may be imprisoned or threatened with imprisonment for their inability to pay. A federal judge has not yet approved the final settlement, but looking back, both the class’s attorneys and the county signed on to it.
one South Dakota Searchlight Story The settlement prompted Rep. Peri Pourier to introduce the bill. The Rapid City Republican said reading the story reminded her that the issue is not new to the Legislature.
2022, bill Bills to ban detention for failure to pay passed the House and Senate Judiciary Committees but failed by one vote in the Senate.
“I took the bill that passed in 2022 and introduced it” and got some final revisions from the state’s Legislative Research Commission, she said.
Prior said this year’s bill brings state law “in line with clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent that prohibits incarcerating people simply because they are poor.”
Her bill states, “No defendant shall be incarcerated for failure to pay the costs and expenses of the program, nor shall the defendant’s bail or pretrial release be revoked unless the court finds that the defendant has the current and continuing ability to pay the costs and expenses of the program.”
In practice, judges are required to hold hearings to determine whether a participant has the ability to pay for the program and willfully refuses to do so before incarcerating someone who takes the test but fails to pay. Unpaid charges can be recorded for later payment.
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Representatives of South Dakota defense attorneys and trial attorneys, as well as lobbyists from the South Dakota Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Network, testified in support of the bill.
In 2022, several law enforcement opponents, including representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, testified against the change. Poirier’s bill received no opposition testimony Monday.
“I think these court cases dramatically change the way South Dakota’s 24-7 program operates,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, D-St. Onge. Who voted against the 2022 version of the bill. “I think after the courts make these decisions, it will codify into law what the state is already doing now.”
Rep. Will Mortenson, a Fort Pierre Republican, also voted against the 2022 bill. On Monday, he said he had reviewed Supreme Court cases on the issue of incarcerating indigent people and noted who was not present at Monday’s hearing.
“I don’t hear the attorney general here saying, ‘No, no, you’re reading it wrong, and this is going to make it easier for people.’ “I don’t hear the state attorney here saying, ‘Don’t do it,’ and I don’t hear the sheriff here saying, ‘Don’t do it,'” Mortenson said.
Following the committee vote, Chairman Mike Stevens (R-Yankton) approved the legislation for placement on the House consent calendar. The House votes in bulk on such bills, debating them only when lawmakers request it.
