---
type: "Bill"
title: "authorize certain witnesses to be accompanied by a certified therapeutic dog in a criminal proceeding."
description: "authorize certain witnesses to be accompanied by a certified therapeutic dog in a criminal proceeding."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 136"
citation: "South Dakota SB 136 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts and Judiciary", "Criminal Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bartels", "Barthel", "Curd", "Cwach", "Duba", "Duhamel", "Duvall", "Foster", "Healy", "Hunhoff", "Johns", "Langer", "Otten (Ernie)", "Otten (Herman)", "Reed", "Reimer", "Rusch", "Smith (VJ)", "Soholt"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2020-01-30"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/13fd4294-b68c-4d79-a735-05ab4bebd4fc"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=136&Session=2020"
source_hash: "ed180165611cc8092a86caa93b535eccab0d2a5df15e0ff9316f47eee431842b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sd"]
---

# South Dakota SB 136 (2020) — authorize certain witnesses to be accompanied by a certified therapeutic dog in a criminal proceeding.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB136P.html&Session=2020&Version=Introduced&Bill=136)
2. **Senate Health and Human Services** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB136SHE.html&Session=2020&Version=Senate Health and Human Services&Bill=136)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB136ENR.html&Session=2020&Version=Enrolled&Bill=136)

## Votes

- Do Pass - 2020 — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **52–14** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bartels — primary (person)
- Barthel — primary (person)
- Curd — primary (person)
- Cwach — primary (person)
- Duba — primary (person)
- Duhamel — primary (person)
- Duvall — primary (person)
- Foster — primary (person)
- Healy — primary (person)
- Hunhoff — primary (person)
- Johns — primary (person)
- Langer — primary (person)
- Otten (Ernie) — primary (person)
- Otten (Herman) — primary (person)
- Reed — primary (person)
- Reimer — primary (person)
- Rusch — primary (person)
- Smith (VJ) — primary (person)
- Soholt — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-30** First read in Senate and referred to Senate Health and Human Services S.J. 118 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-19** Health and Human Services Motion to amend, Passed Amendment 136A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2020-02-19** Health and Human Services Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 0. `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Senate Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 34, NAYS 0. S.J. 310 `passage`
- **2020-02-24** First Reading House H.J. 360
- **2020-02-27** Referred to House Judiciary H.J. 433 `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-04** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-03-04** Judiciary Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 12, NAYS 0. `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Certified uncontested, placed on consent
- **2020-03-09** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 52, NAYS 14. H.J. 528 `passage`
- **2020-03-10** Signed by the President S.J. 475
- **2020-03-11** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 583
- **2020-03-12** Delivered to the Governor on March 12, 2020 S.J. 522 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-30** Signed by the Governor on March 24, 2020 S.J. 558 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/13fd4294-b68c-4d79-a735-05ab4bebd4fc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).