---
type: "Bill"
title: "establish procedures for anti-SLAPP actions to protect the exercise of a person's constitutional rights, including freedom of speech."
description: "establish procedures for anti-SLAPP actions to protect the exercise of a person's constitutional rights, including freedom of speech."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 137"
citation: "South Dakota SB 137 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Attorney's Fees", "Civil Procedure", "Court Costs", "Liability", "Speech and Expression"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Goodwin", "Howard", "Hulse", "Manhart", "Rice", "Roby"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-27"
last_action: "2026-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/26a84ccf-f59b-4813-9757-8e12e1bf471b"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26918"
source_hash: "dd68351b1ea68a3e1911ac413aced2656ff7aa0c1e6e037efee89e9dd7096f2f"
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 137 (2026) — establish procedures for anti-SLAPP actions to protect the exercise of a person's constitutional rights, including freedom of speech.

## 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/26918/297673)
2. **137A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/298410.pdf)
3. **Senate Judiciary Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26918/301614)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26918/306424)

## Votes

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

## Sponsors

- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Howard — primary (person)
- Hulse — primary (person)
- Manhart — primary (person)
- Rice — primary (person)
- Roby — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-27** First read in Senate and referred to Senate Judiciary S.J. 120 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
- **2026-02-05** Judiciary Motion to amend , Passed, S.J. 14 Amendment 137A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-05** Judiciary Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 0 S.J. 15
- **2026-02-05** Certified uncontested, placed on consent , Passed, S.J. 15
- **2026-02-09** Senate Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 33, NAYS 0 S.J. 221
- **2026-02-10** First read in House and referred to House Judiciary H.J. 279 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** Scheduled for hearing
- **2026-03-04** Judiciary Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 12, NAYS 0 `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Certified uncontested, placed on consent , Passed,
- **2026-03-05** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 65, NAYS 2 H.J. 523
- **2026-03-09** Signed by the President S.J. 505 `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 553 `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Delivered to the Governor on 2026-03-11 S.J. 520 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by the Governor on 2026-03-30 S.J. 548 `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/26a84ccf-f59b-4813-9757-8e12e1bf471b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).