South Dakota Digital Currency Search and Seizure Amendments

SB 43 makes two targeted changes to South Dakota criminal procedure. First, it amends SDCL § 23A-35-14 so that, for the search-warrant chapter, “property” includes documents, books, papers, digital currency, and other tangible objects. This places digital currency expressly inside the chapter’s property language for search-and-seizure purposes.

Second, the act adds a definition of “digital currency” to Chapter 23A-35. The definition covers a digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or other medium of exchange, including blockchain or similar technology. That definition is narrower than a full digital-asset regulatory regime: it is tied to the criminal-procedure chapter and to search-and-seizure context.

• Primary legal area: search warrants, property, and criminal procedure.
• Asset coverage: digital currency recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar medium.
• Regulatory posture: no exchange licensing, market-structure, tax-reporting, or investment framework is created by the act.

The amendments matter because law-enforcement and court processes often depend on whether an item can be described as searchable or seizable property under the relevant statute. SB 43 does not itself determine whether any particular seizure is valid, nor does it remove constitutional or statutory limits that may apply to a search warrant. Instead, the bill clarifies that digital currency is included in the property terminology used by South Dakota’s search-warrant chapter.

The act also preserves the chapter’s existing statement that Chapter 23A-35 does not modify inconsistent provisions of the code that regulate search, seizure, and the issuance or execution of search warrants when a special provision applies. That language keeps the amendment focused on the Chapter 23A-35 framework and avoids presenting the bill as a standalone forfeiture code.

SB 43 was first read in the South Dakota Senate and referred to Senate Judiciary on January 13, 2026. Senate Judiciary passed the bill 6-0 on January 15, and the Senate passed it 32-0 on January 16. The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill 11-0 on March 2, and the House passed it 65-1 on March 3. The bill history reports the Governor signed the act on March 11, with the action recorded on March 12.

Because the enrolled act contains no express emergency clause or operative date, South Dakota’s default rule for regular-session acts is relevant for editors tracking the statute. The state constitution prevents acts from taking effect until 90 days after adjournment unless an emergency clause is used, and SDCL § 2-14-16 generally sets July 1 as the effective date for regular-session acts that do not prescribe a date. This profile should be reviewed on July 1, 2026, to update the status from Enacted to Effective if the codified text confirms operation.