---
type: "Bill"
title: "make certain uses of laser pointers unlawful."
description: "make certain uses of laser pointers unlawful."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 79"
citation: "South Dakota SB 79 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Assault", "Law Enforcement", "Penalty"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barthel", "Blare", "Chaffee", "Curd", "Derby", "Drury", "Duhamel", "Goodwin", "Greenfield (Brock)", "Hoffman", "Jensen (Kevin)", "Johnson (David)", "Koth", "Milstead", "Novstrup", "Otten (Ernie)", "Perry", "Reed", "Rusch", "Smith (VJ)", "Stalzer", "Symens", "Zikmund"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2021-01-19"
last_action: "2021-03-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/32070add-42fc-40ab-aeea-e008c90721f1"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21797"
source_hash: "23139564ffbacded9e2100c1aa3a919a9fdc498a7055c564c12f1141ae7db62f"
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 79 (2021) — make certain uses of laser pointers unlawful.

## 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/21797/211762)
2. **79A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/213514.pdf)
3. **Senate Judiciary Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21797/214705)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21797/219782)

## Votes

- Do Pass Amended — **65–4** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass Amended — **32–2** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **12–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barthel — primary (person)
- Blare — primary (person)
- Chaffee — primary (person)
- Curd — primary (person)
- Derby — primary (person)
- Drury — primary (person)
- Duhamel — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Greenfield (Brock) — primary (person)
- Hoffman — primary (person)
- Jensen (Kevin) — primary (person)
- Johnson (David) — primary (person)
- Koth — primary (person)
- Milstead — primary (person)
- Novstrup — primary (person)
- Otten (Ernie) — primary (person)
- Perry — primary (person)
- Reed — primary (person)
- Rusch — primary (person)
- Smith (VJ) — primary (person)
- Stalzer — primary (person)
- Symens — primary (person)
- Zikmund — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-19** First read in Senate and referred to S.J. 65 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-26** Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
- **2021-01-28** Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
- **2021-01-28** Judiciary Motion to amend , Passed, S.J. 2 Amendment 79A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2021-01-28** Judiciary Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 0 S.J. 3
- **2021-02-02** Senate Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 32, NAYS 2 S.J. 159
- **2021-02-03** First Reading House H.J. 195
- **2021-02-04** Referred to H.J. 213 `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Scheduled for hearing
- **2021-03-03** Judiciary Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 12, NAYS 0 H.J. 1 `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-04** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 65, NAYS 4 H.J. 500
- **2021-03-08** Signed by the President S.J. 445 `passage`
- **2021-03-09** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 541 `passage`
- **2021-03-10** Delivered to the Governor on 2021-03-10 S.J. 468 `executive-receipt`
- **2021-03-29** Signed by the Governor on 2021-03-29 S.J. 494 `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/32070add-42fc-40ab-aeea-e008c90721f1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).