PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The House has approved a scaled-back version of Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s public safety bill addressing potential oil pipeline protests in South Dakota.
The bill would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor for someone to stand in the highway to stop traffic or to trespass in a posted emergency area. Senators will have to consider changes made in the House.
The measure initially failed when it didn’t receive the two-thirds majority required to pass it with an emergency clause. After stripping the provision, the House approved the bill with a 49-18 vote.
Under some circumstances, it would also allow the commissioner of school and public lands, at the request of the governor and local sheriff, to block any group larger than 20 people from gathering on land under the office’s supervision.
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