---
type: "Bill"
title: "revise provisions related to courtroom modifications for child witnesses."
description: "revise provisions related to courtroom modifications for child witnesses."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 70"
citation: "South Dakota SB 70 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Child Abuse", "Civil Procedure", "Criminal Procedure", "Minors", "Sex Offenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bartels", "Blare", "Castleberry", "Davis", "Drury", "Duba", "Duhamel", "Emery", "Fitzgerald", "Healy", "Hoffman", "Johnson", "Larson", "Nelson", "Nesiba", "Perry", "Pourier", "Reed", "Rehfeldt", "Reisch", "Tobin", "Wittman"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-01-18"
last_action: "2023-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d6f5728f-d0b8-40ed-a1e8-4f5f52678e39"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24024"
source_hash: "40c9d9f64b23378b870fe5f732525ee1df0ba3ee5ddd067445b22494b298421b"
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 70 (2023) — revise provisions related to courtroom modifications for child witnesses.

## 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/24024/244078)
2. **70A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/246636.pdf)
3. **Senate Judiciary Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24024/246875)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24024/251096)

## Votes

- Do Pass Amended — **33–2** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **8–2** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass Amended — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended — **54–14** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bartels — primary (person)
- Blare — primary (person)
- Castleberry — primary (person)
- Davis — primary (person)
- Drury — primary (person)
- Duba — primary (person)
- Duhamel — primary (person)
- Emery — primary (person)
- Fitzgerald — primary (person)
- Healy — primary (person)
- Hoffman — primary (person)
- Johnson — primary (person)
- Larson — primary (person)
- Nelson — primary (person)
- Nesiba — primary (person)
- Perry — primary (person)
- Pourier — primary (person)
- Reed — primary (person)
- Rehfeldt — primary (person)
- Reisch — primary (person)
- Tobin — primary (person)
- Wittman — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-18** First read in Senate and referred to S.J. 59 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-26** Scheduled for hearing
- **2023-01-26** Judiciary Motion to amend , Passed, Amendment 70A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-01-26** Judiciary Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 6, NAYS 0
- **2023-01-31** Senate Deferred to another day , Passed, S.J. 152
- **2023-02-01** Senate Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 33, NAYS 2 S.J. 168
- **2023-02-02** First read in House and referred to H.J. 212 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-01** Scheduled for hearing
- **2023-03-01** Judiciary Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 8, NAYS 2 `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-02** House of Representatives Deferred to another day , Passed, H.J. 467
- **2023-03-06** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 54, NAYS 14 H.J. 479
- **2023-03-07** Signed by the President S.J. 447 `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 506 `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Delivered to the Governor on 2023-03-08 S.J. 461 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Signed by the Governor on 2023-03-27 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/d6f5728f-d0b8-40ed-a1e8-4f5f52678e39`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).