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2025 South Dakota legislative session
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| 2025 South Dakota legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: January 14, 2025 Scheduled session end: March 31, 2025 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Larry Rhoden (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 3, 2026 Last Election: November 5, 2024 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2025 legislative sessions |
In 2025, the South Dakota State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 14 and adjourn on March 31.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2024 elections. Republicans won a 32-3 majority in the Senate and a 64-6 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2025 session, South Dakota was one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2025
South Dakota State Senate
- Senate president: Larry Rhoden (R)
- Majority leader: Jim Mehlhaff (R)
- Minority leader: Liz Larson (D)
South Dakota House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Jon Hansen (R)
- Majority leader: Scott Odenbach (R)
- Minority leader: Erin Healy (D)
Partisan control in 2025
- See also: State government trifectas
South Dakota was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2025 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
South Dakota was also one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the South Dakota State Legislature in the 2025 legislative session.
South Dakota State Senate
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 3 | |
| Republican Party | 32 | |
| Total | 35 | |
South Dakota House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 6 | |
| Republican Party | 64 | |
| Total | 70 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2025 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation has met these criteria yet in 2025. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Legislation trackers
- See also: Legislation Trackers
Ballotpedia’s legislation trackers are your go-to resource for staying on top of key legislative topics. We capture any bill introduced on the topic across all of the 50 state legislatures, and we track the movement of the bill every step of the way. We provide real-time updates and translate legislative legalese into easily understandable language. As of the 2025 session, Ballotpedia provided tracking on the following topics. Click on the links below to view related bills from the 2025 session:
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, there were 30 standing committees in South Dakota's state government, including two joint legislative committees, 14 state Senate committees, and 14 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
Senate committees
- Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Commerce and Energy Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Government Operations and Audit Committee
- Senate Health and Human Services Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate Legislative Procedure Committee
- Senate Local Government Committee
- Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Senate Retirement Laws Committee
- Senate State Affairs Committee
- Senate Taxation Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
House committees
- House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
- House Appropriations Committee
- House Commerce and Energy Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Government Operations and Audit Committee
- House Health and Human Services Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- House Legislative Procedure Committee
- House Local Government Committee
- House Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee
- House Retirement Laws Committee
- House State Affairs Committee
- House Taxation Committee
- House Transportation Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the South Dakota Constitution can be amended:
Amendments to the South Dakota Constitution may be proposed in three different ways—through a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, or a state constitutional convention.
Initiative
- See also: Initiated constitutional amendment
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In South Dakota, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.
Legislature
A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the South Dakota State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 36 votes in the South Dakota House of Representatives and 18 votes in the South Dakota State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Section 2 of Article 23 of the South Dakota Constitution, the South Dakota State Legislature can call a state constitutional convention through a 75% vote in each legislative chamber. Citizens can initiate a constitutional convention question using the same procedures as an initiated constitutional amendment.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of South Dakota.
South Dakota Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
Republicans won control of the South Dakota State Senate in 1994. In 2024, they won a 32-3 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the South Dakota Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
South Dakota State Senate election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 20 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Republicans | 15 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 32 |
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the South Dakota House of Representatives in 1974. In 2024, they won a 64-6 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the South Dakota House following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
South Dakota House of Representatives election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 29 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 19 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Republicans | 41 | 45 | 47 | 52 | 50 | 49 | 51 | 50 | 46 | 50 | 53 | 58 | 60 | 59 | 62 | 63 | 64 |
Analysis
Adopted legislation, 2015-2024
In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.
See also
| Elections | South Dakota State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
