How to testify before the South Dakota legislature

This page covers what's specific to South Dakota. For the general steps of signing up and speaking, see the general guide.

How South Dakota does it

Starting with the 2026 session, pre-registration is required for all committees, not just budget committees. You register through the "Register to Testify" online form, linked or shown as a QR code on every committee's published agenda at sdlegislature.gov. The form asks for your name, contact information, organization if any, position (for, against, presenting, or other), and which agenda item you're addressing.

Remote testimony is possible but not automatic. The committee chair decides case by case whether to let someone appear by Microsoft Teams instead of in person. If approved, you get a Teams invite by email and must be logged in before your bill comes up. If a meeting is postponed or cancelled, you have to sign up again since no automatic notice goes out.

If you'd rather not speak, use the same registration form and select "Written." The comment field holds up to 4,000 characters, and you can attach supporting documents. It becomes part of the public record.

Deadlines and numbers

• Registration: preferred at least 24 hours before the hearing, especially for written testimony. Same-day in-person sign-up is generally accommodated
• Speaker time limit: no fixed statute, guidance suggests 5 minutes or less, chairs often hold to 2 to 3 minutes when busy
• 2026 session: 101st session convened January 13, 2026, up to 40 legislative days
• 2027 session: convenes January 12, 2027, 38 legislative days

Where to go

• Committee agendas, registration form, and session calendars: sdlegislature.gov
• Bill and committee tracking: mylrc.sdlegislature.gov

Rules

South Dakota's general constitutional cap on session length (commonly cited as 40 days in odd years and 35 in even years) couldn't be confirmed against primary statutory text in the dossier. Only the specific 2026 and 2027 calendar allotments were verified, so treat any general rule about session length as unconfirmed and check the specific year's calendar instead. Route further verification to /engage.