South Dakota

AMENDMENT LANGUAGE

State Constitutional Provisions

S.D. Const. art. VIII, § 16: "Public support of sectarian instruction prohibited. No appropriation of lands, money, or other property or credits to aid any sectarian school shall ever be made by the state, or any county or municipality within the state, nor shall the state or any county or municipality within the state accept any grant, conveyance, gift, or bequest of lands, money, or other property to be used for sectarian purposes, and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed in any school or institution aided or supported by the state."

S.D. Const. art. VI, § 3: "No money or property of the state shall be given or appropriated for the benefit of any sectarian or religious society or institution."

RELEVANT CASES

State Courts

Elbe v. Yankton Independent School Dist. No. 63-3, 640 F.Supp. 1234 (D.S.D. 1986) (The District Court held that the state textbook loan statutes were unconstitutional under the state constitution).

In Re Certification of a Question of Law from the United States District Court Pursuant To Elbe v. Yankton Independent School District No. 63-3, 372 N.W.2d 113 (S.D. 1985) (The South Dakota Supreme Court held that textbook loan statutes were unconstitutional under state constitution provisions barring public funding to sectarian schools notwithstanding the inclusion in the statues of a legislative policy statement and recipients other than private school students).

In Re Petition of N.C.B. Careers, Inc. for Tax Exemption and Refund, 298 N.W.2d 526 (S.D. 1980) (State statues exempting sectarian schools from paying certain taxes did not constitute impermissible aid to religion under the state constitution).

McDonald v. School Board of the Yankton Independent School District No. 1 of Yankton, 246 N.W.2d 93 (S.D. 1976) (The Supreme Court of South Dakota held the state textbook loan statutes were unconstitutional under state constitution provisions prohibiting aid to sectarian schools).

South Dakota High School Interscholastic Activities Association v. St Mary's Inter-Parochial High School of Salem, 141 N.W.2d 477 (S.D. 1966) (A state statute making all accredited high schools eligible for membership in an interscholastic activities association does not amount to an unconstitutional gift or appropriate to sectarian schools nor does permitting parochial schools to jointly use public school facilities for interscholastic activities amount to unconstitutional support of sectarian schools).

State ex rel. Finger v. Weedman, 226 N.W. 348 (S.D. 1929) (The Supreme Court of South Dakota affirmed the lower court decision dismissing an action by a Catholic father seeking to have his son re-admitted after the school expelled the child for failure to attending opening exercises where the King James version of the Bible was read and the Lord’s prayer repeated).

Synod of Dakota v. State, 50 N.W. 632 (S.D. 1891) (Provisions of state constitution barring aid to sectarian institutions are self-executing and prohibit the contract between the territorial board of education and a Presbyterian college to educate teachers even though students could opt out of sectarian exercises).

SECONDARY MATERIALS

State Attorney General Opinions

· 1992 Op. Atty. Gen. No. 92-04. (The state constitution likely bars a school district from transporting students to a private pre-school).

REPEAL EFFORTS

Families for Equality in Education, Inc. is coordinating repeal efforts in South Dakota. For more information, check out their website.

See the Heritage Foundation website for a list of other state contacts.