House rejects conference report on Senate Bill 113 after extended debate on parental rights and child-welfare protections

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted 39-31 on March 12, 2025, to reject the conference committee report on Senate Bill 113, a measure that sponsors described as affirming parental rights and opponents warned could create doubt about the state’s child abuse and neglect laws.

Supporters said the bill restated constitutional protections for parents and would strengthen parents’ ability to assert placement preferences in child-welfare cases. Representative Schwanns, the bill’s floor sponsor, asked members to adopt the conference committee report and return the bill to its original intent. Representative Hughes defended the measure on the floor as “a correct statement of federal constitutional law,” saying it would set a statutory baseline for parental liberty claims.

Opponents — including Representative Reich and lawmakers with experience in child-protection work — said the conference report removed clarifying language that Department of Social Services officials and others had requested to make clear the bill would not be…