SB 5 South Dakota Senate · 2025 Regular Session

permit a sheriff to charge a fee for service of process, whether service is completed or not.

This bill allows South Dakota sheriffs to charge a fee for serving legal documents, regardless of whether the service is successfully completed. The provision directly affects sheriffs and the individuals or entities receiving legal process by permitting fees to be assessed even when service attempts fail. This change expands the financial compensation available to sheriffs for their efforts in serving documents, without guaranteeing that the service will be successful. The bill does not alter the legal requirements for service but adjusts the fee structure associated with the sheriff's role in the process.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Jan 2025
Senate Passage
Jan 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Signed into Law
Feb 2025
Introduced Jan 14, 2025 Signed Feb 11, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Senate Judiciary Engrossed Enrolled · 4 edits · Feb 3, 2025
MODERATE
This bill was finalized from its Senate Judiciary version to its enrolled version, adding key provisions that were missing in earlier drafts. The enrolled version includes a new restriction prohibiting fees in certain consumer protection actions and clarifies that all sheriff fees must be used for law enforcement purposes. The substantive fee amounts and structure for most services remained consistent between versions.
Scope change
The bill's scope was narrowed by adding exemptions for specific consumer protection actions where no fees may be charged, and clarified the mandatory use of fee revenue for law enforcement purposes.
REQUIREMENT

Added prohibition on charging fees in actions under specific consumer protection statutes (§ 25-10-3, 25-10-6, 22-19A-8, 22-19A-12)

FISCAL

Added requirement that all sheriff fees established under this section must be used for law enforcement purposes

TECHNICAL

Added official enrolled document formatting including signatures, dates, and certification language required for final legislative approval

Added page headers and section numbering consistent with enrolled bill formatting standards

Floor votes · Senate Jan 21, 2025 · House Jan 30, 2025

How they voted

320
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 35
Jan 21, 2025
D Democratic3
2 Yea 1
66% Yea
R Republican32
30 Yea 2
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
15
Key actions
9
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Feb 11, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by the Governor on 2025-02-11 S.J. 224
executive
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by the Speaker H.J. 188
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by the President S.J. 157
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 58, NAYS 8 H.J. 163
lower
Jan 30, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (58-7-2)
house
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Judiciary Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 13, NAYS 0
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced
First read in House and referred to H.J. 52
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 32, NAYS 0 S.J. 64
upper
Jan 21, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (32-0-3)
senate
Jan 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
Judiciary Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 0
upper
Jan 16, 2025
Introduced
Judiciary Motion to amend , Passed, Amendment 5A
upper
Jan 14, 2025
Introduced
First read in Senate and referred to S.J. 11
upper
23 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors