A January 2025 view of the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
By: Meghan O’Brien
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — The crime of preventing religious practices by threat or violence will change from a misdemeanor to a felony in South Dakota, in response to out-of-state protests against immigration enforcement actions.
State Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, and state House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, sponsored the bill in coordination with Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who signed it into law Tuesday. It increases the punishment for any person who, by threat or violence, intentionally prevents another person from performing any lawful act associated with religion.
Doing so is currently a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year of county jail time and a $2,000 fine. The new law raises the penalty to a felony, making it punishable by two years in state prison and a $4,000 fine.
“South Dakota is the freest state in the nation,” Rhoden said during a bill-signing ceremony at the Capitol. “When our freedom to worship is under attack, we will step up.”
Supporters of the bill said they were inspired by January protests in Minnesota, where demonstrators disrupted a church service while protesting the operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, resulting in arrests and federal charges. A pastor of the church works for ICE, which had thousands of agents in Minnesota conducting enforcement actions. While operating in the state, federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens.
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