Dang—is the Legislature suffering from a fit of good Dakota Free Press sense?
Governor Larry Rhoden proposed two bills, House Bill 1083 and House Bill 1084, that would have hung me for stalking legislators and a few other privileged elected officials if I published their addresses and would have hidden their information on the public voter rolls. Even Republican spinster Pat Powers thought that coddling of elected officials was a bad idea.
House Judiciary agreed, killing HB 1083 Monday:
HB 1083 failed to make it through the House Judiciary Committee and was sent to the 41st legislative day, effectively killing the bill, on an 11-2 vote.
…Several people spoke in support of the bill. Two spoke against it, including Tara Larson, a registered lobbyist for the South Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Larson said that while she appreciates the intent, the bill would not deter crime and could criminalize constitutionally protected speech.
“As much as we don’t like it, harassing or intimidating communications are often protected by the First Amendment,” Larson said. “Unfortunately, this bill affects too much potentially lawful speech that is covered under the First Amendment.”
…Republican Rep. John Hughes of Sioux Falls expressed concern the bill would “weaponize” criminal law against political opponents and create a special class of protected individuals.
“It’s going to have a chilling effect on free speech. Has not everyone here experienced substantial emotional distress from things written or published about them?” Hughes said. “I willingly gave up certain privacy expectations by becoming an elected official.”
…Republican Rep.Will Mortenson of Pierre said he supports the intent of the bill but believes it’s too broad, adding that protections would be more appropriate for law enforcement and judges rather than legislators.
“When we think about contact information being shared about public officials—that’s kind of what we signed up for,” Mortenson said. “My cell phone was widely disseminated on social media, which resulted in a lot of phone calls and voicemails, including threats, but I always took that as part of the job” [Michael Doorn, “South Dakota House Panel Rejects Gov’s Doxing Bill,” KELO-TV, 2026.01.26].
…and paring down HB 1084 to limit the voter-roll redactions to law enforcement officers and current or retired judges.
However, the Legislature still isn’t publishing legislators’ addresses and hometowns on its website.