South Dakota Physical Damage Required to Classify Action as Violation of Law Initiative (2020)

South Dakota Violation of Law Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Law enforcement
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens
List of South Dakota measuresInitiated Measure 26Constitutional Amendment AConstitutional Amendment BSubmit

The South Dakota Violation of Law Initiative was not on the ballot in South Dakota as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.

Measure design

The measure would have amended the state constitution to create new standards for what constitutes a violation of state and local law. Under the amendment, a violation of law could only occur if there had been quantifiable physical damages to a person or a person's property. Under the amendment, no prosecution for a violation of the law could have occured unless the victim or victim's family brought a charge. Proponents filed a second version (Version #2) which included monetary damages in what constitutes a violation of the law.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The proposed ballot titles for the different versions are below:

Version #1 ballot title
“ An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution requiring physical damage in order for conduct to be considered a violation of the law. ”

Version #2 ballot title
“ An amendment to the South Dakota Constitution requiring physical or monetary damage in order for conduct to be considered a violation of the law ”

Ballot summary

The ballot explanations for the different versions are below:

Version #1 ballot explanation

“ This amendment significantly re-defines what would be considered a violation of state or local law. Under the amendment, conduct is a violation only if the perpetrator damages another person or person's property. Damages must be physical, quantifiable, and have already occurred. Under the amendment, if a victim does not file a charge, there can be no prosecution. If the victim is incapable of doing so, a family member may bring the charge, as long as the victim does not object. The amendment would take effect on July 1, 2021. At that time, victims must be notified in all cases where there are pending charges, uncompleted sentences, or unpaid fines. If a victim does not file a charge as described in this amendment, then the case, sentence, or fine must be dismissed. The amendment prohibits the use of state and local funds personnel or property to implement or enforce any federal law that violates this amendment. Some of the amendment's provisions are unclear and will require judicial interpretation and clarification. Any state and local laws that do not meet the amendment's requirements would no longer be valid. A substantial re-write of the state and local criminal laws will be necessary. ”

Version #2 ballot explanation

“ This amendment significantly re-defines what is considered a violation of state or local law. Under the amendment, conduct is a violation only if a person or person's property is physically or monetarily damaged or stolen. Damages must have already occurred and be quantifiable. If a victim does not file a charge, there can be no prosecution. If the victim is incapable of bringing the charge, another individual may do so, but only if the victim does not object. The amendment would take effect July 1, 2021. At that time, victims must be notified in all cases where there are pending charges, uncompleted sentences, or unpaid fines. If a victim does not file a charge as described in this amendment, then the case, Sentence, or fine must be dismissed. The amendment prohibits the use of state and local funds, personnel, or property to implement or enforce any federal law, executive order, rule, or regulation that violates this amendment. Some of the amendment's provisions are unclear and will require judicial interpretation and clarification. Any state and local laws that do not meet the amendment's requirements would no longer be valid. A substantial re-write of state and local criminal laws will be necessary. ”

Full text

The full text of Version #1 is available here. The full text of Version #2 is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota

The state process

In South Dakota, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election. Signatures must be submitted by the first Tuesday of May during a general election year.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:

• Signatures: 33,921 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was November 4, 2019.

Once the signatures have been gathered and filed, the secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method.

Details about this initiative

• The attorney general's statement for Version #1 was delivered to South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs on November 21, 2018.
• The attorney general's statement for Version #2 was delivered to South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett on March 12, 2019.
• Proponents did not submit signatures by the deadline, therefore the initiative did not qualify for the 2020 ballot.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Law enforcement on the ballot

South Dakota

• South Dakota ballot measures
• South Dakota ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Attorney General's statement and full text (Version #1)

• Attorney General's statement and full text (Version #2)