---
type: "Bill"
title: "require the attorney general be licensed to practice law in the state."
description: "require the attorney general be licensed to practice law in the state."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1197"
citation: "South Dakota HB 1197 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Officers and Employees", "State Affairs and Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Aylward", "Bolin", "Castleberry", "Deutsch", "Drury", "Finck", "Frye-Mueller", "Goodwin", "Greenfield (Brock)", "Hoffman", "Jensen (Kevin)", "Marty", "May", "Milstead", "Mulally", "Otten (Ernie)", "Peterson (Sue)", "Randolph", "Soye", "Steinhauer", "Stevens", "Symens", "Zikmund"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 14
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-02-02"
last_action: "2021-03-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/01a50fbc-fc66-415a-a96f-d2c114ce5e4d"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21883"
source_hash: "ce585791a8486f5901ab00253d6d67e576803cec88f92ac10b01f0c25dc8b1ec"
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 HB 1197 (2021) — require the attorney general be licensed to practice law in the state.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21883/215329)
2. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21883/219756)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **67–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Aylward — primary (person)
- Bolin — primary (person)
- Castleberry — primary (person)
- Deutsch — primary (person)
- Drury — primary (person)
- Finck — primary (person)
- Frye-Mueller — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Greenfield (Brock) — primary (person)
- Hoffman — primary (person)
- Jensen (Kevin) — primary (person)
- Marty — primary (person)
- May — primary (person)
- Milstead — primary (person)
- Mulally — primary (person)
- Otten (Ernie) — primary (person)
- Peterson (Sue) — primary (person)
- Randolph — primary (person)
- Soye — primary (person)
- Steinhauer — primary (person)
- Stevens — primary (person)
- Symens — primary (person)
- Zikmund — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-02** First read in House and referred to H.J. 178 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-22** Scheduled for hearing
- **2021-02-22** State Affairs Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 12, NAYS 0 `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Certified uncontested, placed on consent , Passed,
- **2021-02-23** House of Representatives Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 67, NAYS 2 H.J. 357 `passage`
- **2021-02-24** First read in Senate and referred to S.J. 341 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-02** Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
- **2021-03-02** Judiciary Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 6, NAYS 0 S.J. 1 `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-02** Certified uncontested, placed on consent , Passed, S.J. 1
- **2021-03-04** Senate Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 31, NAYS 3 S.J. 418 `passage`
- **2021-03-08** Signed by the President S.J. 450 `passage`
- **2021-03-08** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 527 `passage`
- **2021-03-09** Delivered to the Governor on 2021-03-09 H.J. 530 `executive-receipt`
- **2021-03-29** Signed by the Governor on 2021-03-29 H.J. 570 `executive-signature, executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/01a50fbc-fc66-415a-a96f-d2c114ce5e4d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).