SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — On Thursday afternoon, the South Dakota House of Representatives debated SB83, a bill seeking to reduce the penalty for ingestion of certain controlled substances from a Class 6 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor for a 1st and 2nd violation.

Under the terms of the bill, a 3rd violation would be a Class 6 felony.

Rhoden to form prison task force, call special session

Arguments for the bill focused on the perception that a felony is too harsh a penalty for ingestion, while arguments against centered on a desire to be tough on crime.

Republican Rep. Brian Mulder, the lead sponsor in the House, spoke to the chamber, urging support of the bill.

Mulder speaking on the floor

Mulder emphasized a felony is a label which lasts a lifetime and comes with many limitations. Including limits to housing and employment, as well the the inability to purchase a firearm.

Opposing the bill, Republican Rep. Mary Fitzgerald argued passing the bill would send a message to children that drugs are OK, calling it “decriminalizing” drug use.

Republican Rep. Tim Reisch pushed back on Fitzgerald’s comments, saying this bill is not a decriminalization of drugs, and arguing time spent in the county jail for a misdemeanor would be more productive than time spend in the prison for a felony.

Republican Rep. Leslie Heinemann also opposed the bill, telling the House he’d spoken to the Moody County Sheriff, who opposed it, arguing that ingestion needed to remain a felony for him to be able to enforce the law, and the state needs felony ingestion as a deterrent.

Republican Rep. Keri Weems spoke of her personal experience working with recently released felons. She recounted seeing their living situations, staying in hotel rooms because they cannot get leases, and attempting to raise their children in these rooms with only a mini-fridge and a microwave.

Weems said she’s become more compassionate on ingestion through these experiences and urged passage of the bill.

Mulder said the state should not seek to over-penalize those suffering from addiction, adding this bill would not lower penalties for those dosing others or selling drugs, but only those who have ingested drugs.

Democrat Rep. Peri Pourier emphasized the importance of recognizing the existence of substance use disorder, and not simply looking at ingestion as “people getting high.”

Rep. Pourier speaking on the floor

Discussion on the bill featured comments from other legislators who spoke on subjects such as treatment, over-incarceration and the fiscal costs of incarcerating people for ingestion.

Vote total for SB83

Following discussion on the bill, a vote was held. SB83 passed narrowly with 37 in favor and 33 opposed.

Mulder and SB83 Senate sponsor Sen. Tamara Grove

The Senate approved SB 83 on a vote of 18-17. The bill struggled to get out of the House committee, reaching the House floor with no recommendation. That required a decision by the House whether to put it on the debate calendar. The House agreed 49-21 to allow the debate.

The next stop now is the desk of Governor Larry Rhoden.

SB 83’s prime sponsor, Republican Sen. Tamara Grove, watched the House debate from the back of the chamber. After the vote, Grove and Mulder hugged in celebration. When she returned to the Senate, she received a congratulatory hug from Republican Sen. David Wheeler, who had voted for it there.

Grove spoke to reporters about whether the governor will sign SB 83 into law. “I guess I would be surprised if he would say, ‘I’m not going to sign this, I’m going to veto this,’ or something along those lines,” she said.

Final approval came on the same day that the governor announced the appointment of a new task force to take another look at whether South Dakota needs a new men’s prison. Rhoden said he plans to call a special legislative session July 22 to act on whatever the task force recommends.

One of the reporters, Lee Strubinger from South Dakota Public Broadcasting, asked Grove if this was the right moment for the ingestion bill to be approved.

“It really was the right moment, because you’re talking about building a prison for 1,500 people, and you have our own secretary (of corrections) saying we need to change our sentencing practices, and so this is the time,” Grove said. “Now we can really honestly say how many people, what’s the forecasted number of people that are going to be in prison.

“And I mean, just between 2019 and 2024, there’s 961 people according to Secretary Wasko that were in prison for just ingestion. And so that’s a whole lotta’ beds right there — that’s nearly a thousand beds.”

She continued, “If I use the rate we have right now which is 77 percent success, you’re talking about 740 less people that need a bed. And so this is a really good time.”

Capitol Bureau reporter Bob Mercer contributed to this story.