State Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Approves Attorney General Jackley’s Legislative Bills to Protect Children and Privacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. - State Senate Judiciary Committee members unanimously approved three more of South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley's legislative bills Tuesday morning, sending them to the full Senate for further consideration.

"These bills protect citizens, especially our youth, from those trying to do them harm through on-line threats, the sale of dangerous drugs, or stealing personal information," said Attorney General Jackley. "I appreciate the discussion we had with legislators and organizations that helped improve and strengthen these bills. Thank you to Rep. Glen Vilhauer of Watertown for his leadership on and testimony in support of our legislation to protection our youth from dangerous substances."

The three bills are:

Senate Bill 44: Establish investigative subpoena authority to gather business records in certain investigations.

Senate Bill 45: Revise a provision regulating delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, THC-O acetate, and hexahydrocannabinol for persons under the age of twenty-one and to provide a penalty therefor.

Senate Bill 49: Safeguard the integrity, privacy, and security of genetic data and provide a civil penalty therefor.

All three bills were unanimously approved by the committee. Senate Bills 45 and 49 also were placed on the consent calendar.

Six of Attorney General Jackley's 10 legislative bills now have passed their first legislative committee hearing. The other four are scheduled to be heard in Senate State Affairs on Wednesday. The agenda can be found here: https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/294943.pdf

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