Family court reform
South Dakota
Where South Dakota stands on each reform BMD tracks. General information, not legal advice.
Equal parenting time presumption
No bill yet
Makes an equal, or approximately equal, parenting-time schedule the legal starting point in a custody case. The presumption is rebuttable, and a court that orders something else has to say why.
No bill of this kind is cited for South Dakota at the last review.
Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Deployed-parent custody protection
Passed
Enacts the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act: a military deployment by itself is not a reason to change custody, orders made for the deployment are temporary and end with it, and a deploying parent may delegate parenting time.
Statute: S.D. Codified Laws 25-4B-101 et seq.
Enacted the uniform act. Citation taken from the National Conference of State Legislatures military parent custody list; not separately confirmed against the state code.
Source: official bill or statute page
Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Parenting time interference remedies
No bill yet
Gives a parent denied court-ordered parenting time a real remedy - make-up or compensatory time, costs, or a penalty - rather than leaving contempt as the only route.
No bill of this kind is cited for South Dakota at the last review.
Reviewed 2026-10-13.