Rep. Julie Auch, R-Yankton, speaks on the floor of the South Dakota House in February 2025 at the Capitol in Pierre. On Monday, she voted against authorizing a pretrial monitoring program, calling grant funding for the program from the MacArthur Foundation “woke.” (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Lawmakers rejected a pretrial monitoring program Monday that was requested by South Dakota’s top judicial official, as some legislators expressed concerns about the perceived political persuasion of the foundation that pledged to pay for it.

House Bill 1015 came to the House of Representatives at the request of Steven Jensen, chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court. It would authorize a pilot program in Pennington County in which court service officers would watch people released on bond as they await trial to make sure they adhere to their release conditions and don’t miss court dates.

The state Unified Judicial System secured a $385,000 grant to pay for the yearlong experiment from the MacArthur Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that focuses on criminal justice reform.

The foundation has extended grant funding to both Pennington and Minnehaha Counties in the past for programs aimed at reducing their jail populations and addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 10-3 last week to back the pilot program, but the bill authorizing it was met with a buzzsaw of opposition on the House floor. 

Nine of the 15 lawmakers who rose to speak on the idea urged a no vote, and six of the nine opponents lobbed criticism at the MacArthur Foundation for promoting policies they said make communities less safe and cost taxpayers money when grant dollars run out.

The House vote on the bill was 33-34.

Opponent calls grant money ‘woke’

“House Bill 1015 hands over control of our state policies to an unelected, unaccountable national foundation,” said Republican Rep. Mary Fitzgerald of St. Onge. “This organization answers to no one here, yet they want us to follow their agenda.”

Fitzgerald said the pilot program would heap extra burdens upon overworked court service officers in Pennington County, as the grant dollars don’t pay for additional staff. She argued that the pilot would lead to a “catch and release” justice system and turn South Dakota into San Francisco. 

“This bill may not say cashless bail, but it moves us squarely in that direction” she said. “The pilot program is funded by a group trying to eliminate cash bail across the country.”

Pretrial monitoring could reduce missed court appearances and improve outcomes, court officials say

The words “diversity, equity and inclusion” on the MacArthur Foundation’s website — listed as a core value on its “about” page — caught the eye of Aberdeen Republican Brandei Schaefbauer. 

“What are the strings attached” to work with the foundation, she asked lawmakers? She suggested that the foundation would push South Dakota to adopt permanent, further-reaching reforms that would cost taxpayers to maintain long-term.

“I do not think we will actually achieve our goals in reducing the recidivism,” she said, referencing a term for repeat offenses. “What we will achieve is bringing Marxist-communist propaganda to our state.”

Rep. Trish Ladner, R-Hot Springs, said she can’t trust that the pilot program would improve outcomes. Ladner noted that Pennington County had to expand its jail, even after accepting MacArthur Foundation money to implement alternatives to incarceration.

“The burden of the cost of the county government will ultimately result in an increase in the county’s property tax burden to its citizens,” Ladner said.

Republican Rep. Julie Auch of Yankton called MacArthur money “woke,” citing what she described as MacArthur’s “obsessive” focus on racial and ethnic disparities. 

“It’s unfortunate that a foundation of their stature is clearly engaging in politics,” Auch said.

Backers ask for deference to chief justice

Auch said she has “great respect” for Chief Justice Jensen, but that she sees the pilot program as potentially deleterious to public safety.

Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, also referenced Jensen in his remarks, but did so to encourage colleagues to extend the chief justice respect and give a chance for the program he’d endorsed in his State of the Judiciary speech to prove itself.

The pilot program is paid for, Hughes said, will end in 2027, and “will produce data and information” that lawmakers can use to decide to move forward.

Chief justice outlines roadmap to more services for drug offenders, young people and probationers

Many of those released on bond today struggle with addiction, Hughes said, and could use help staying on the right track while they await trial.

“We have to do better than we’re doing,” said Hughes. “So the goal of all of this is to connect individuals with people who are concerned, and who have some sensitivity toward addiction issues.”

Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, pushed back on the notion that South Dakota has no business focusing its attention on racial and ethnic disparities. Wittman said she wanted “to remind this body that we do have racial disparities in our justice system.”

“In South Dakota, more than 50% of our incarcerated women are Indigenous and more than 30% of our incarcerated men are Indigenous, while they only make up 8% of our state’s population,” Wittman said.

Rep. Mike Stevens, R-Yankton, the bill’s prime sponsor, said he trusts that no one in the Legislature would allow a nonprofit organization to turn South Dakota into San Francisco. 

“This really isn’t supposed to be a vote on whether you like MacArthur Foundation or not,” Stevens said. “It’s really about ‘what are we going to do to help our state, our South Dakota.’” 

Stevens also said people are released on bond every day in South Dakota, and that judges don’t lose any of that authority under the bill. Most people released on bond are not monitored now, he said. 

The only place where they are is Minnehaha County, which has opted to do things like remind defendants of court appearances since 2018. Missed court appearances there have fallen 40%, Stevens said. 

Wittman announced her intent to seek reconsideration of the bill. If a majority opts to reopen debate, the bill could have another chance.