The state refuses to accept Judge Camela C. Theeler’s ruling that Speaker Jon Hansen once again disregarded the First Amendment when he pushed the initiative petition deadline back from May to February with 2025 House Bill 1184. But even as their appeal to the Eighth Circuit brews, the state at least acknowledges that, when they lose, they’ll have to pay Rick Weiland and Dakotans for Health $74K plus interest for their expenses in defending your Constitutional rights:
The state of South Dakota could be forced to pay at least $74,000 in attorney fees and costs for a group that’s suing to protect a longer circulation period for ballot-question petitions.
The two parties reached a settlement on attorney fees and costs last week. The agreement says the state will pay $74,000, plus interest at a rate of 3.64%, if the Dakotans for Health ballot question committee remains the winner of the lawsuit.
The state is appealing a federal judge’s September order. The order prohibits the state from enforcing a new law that moves the election-year filing deadline for ballot-question petitions from May to February. That would shrink the circulation window by three months and, according to the judge, violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights [Seth Tupper, “State on the Hook for at Least $74,000 If It Loses Appeal in Petition Deadline Case,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2025.10.06].
The last time the state pressed the Republican war on ballot questions to appeal, the Eighth Circuit didn’t rule until nearly 18 months after the district court ruling. Judge Theeler enjoined enforcement of the unconstitutional February deadline on August 29, so we shouldn’t expect to hear from the Eighth Circuit until February 2027, meaning Dakotans for Health can safely assume it can collect signatures on its two current initiative petitions (and you can call Rick and go sign them!) until the proper, constitutional deadline of May 5, 2026.