South Dakota Specifying Term Limits for Members of the State Legislature Amendment (2026)
| South Dakota SJR 501 | |
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| Topic Constitutional wording changes and State legislative term limits |
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| Status Proposed |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
The South Dakota Specifying Term Limits for Members of the State Legislature Amendment may appear on the ballot in South Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The measure, Senate Joint Resolution 501 (SJR 501), would amend Article III of the South Dakota Constitution to specify the following term limits for members of the South Dakota State Legislature:[1]
- Members of both the South Dakota State Senate and South Dakota House of Representatives may only serve four consecutive terms or eight consecutive years.
- Members of the state legislature may only serve eight consecutive terms or a total of 16 consecutive years as a member of the legislature, regardless of chamber.
Additionally, SJR 501 would specify that the time served by members appointed by the governor for partial terms would not count toward their term limits.
Text of measure
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
Senate Joint Resolution 501 (2025-2026)
The following is the timeline of the constitutional amendment:[2]
- December 19, 2025: The constitutional amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 501 (SJR 501).
- January 26, 2026: The South Dakota State Senate voted 20-14 to pass the constitutional amendment, with one member absent.
| Votes Required to Pass: 18 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 20 | 14 | 1 |
| Total % | 57.1% | 40.0% | 2.9% |
| Democratic (D) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 17 | 14 | 1 |
See also
View other measures certified for the 2026 ballot across the U.S. and in South Dakota.
Explore South Dakota's ballot measure history, including constitutional amendments.
Understand how measures are placed on the ballot and the rules that apply.
External links
Footnotes
