A Senate committee advanced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 500 feet of licensed daycare facilities, closing what supporters call a dangerous gap in South Dakota law.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 to send Senate Bill 107 to the full Senate. The measure adds licensed and registered child care programs to the state’s community safety zone definition, which already restricts sex offenders from living near schools, parks, playgrounds, pools and shelters.
Yankton’s Republican Senator Lauren Nelson sponsored the bill following a daycare provider’s report of a nearby registered sex offender.
“I was blown away when she informed me that daycares are not included in the community safety zone,” Nelson told the committee.
South Dakota has 765 licensed or registered child care programs serving more than 32,000 children. The state also has 4,234 registered sex offenders, one of the highest rates per capita in the nation, at approximately 475 offenders per 100,000 residents.
Michelle Schulte, a Yankton daycare provider with 38 years of experience, testified that a registered sex offender convicted of sexual contact with a five-year-old child moved in next door to her facility in December.
“I am very concerned about letting my little kiddos outside because of this convicted person. I don’t know if they are watching them on the cameras or what is going on in the house,” Schulte said.
Yankton County State’s Attorney Tyler Larsen said the bill makes a “narrow common sense update” by treating child care facilities the same as schools and playgrounds.
“Child care facilities serve the same function as schools, playgrounds, and parks. They are places where young children gather daily often with limited ability to protect themselves,” Larson said.
The South Dakota Police Chiefs Association also supported the measure.
But Terra Larson, representing the South Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, argued the bill would make it nearly impossible for sex offenders to find housing in many South Dakota communities. She said Pierre and other towns have registered daycares concentrated in areas where low-income housing exists.
“There’s gonna be no place for these people to live,” Larson said.
She also noted that not all registered sex offenders are predators, citing examples like statutory rape cases involving teenagers in consensual relationships or someone using artificial intelligence to create inappropriate images.
Nelson countered that courts can grant exemptions when no housing is available, and the bill grandfathers in offenders already living somewhere before a daycare is established.
The bill applies only to licensed daycare centers, licensed group family daycares and registered family daycares that are regulated and inspected by the state.
The legislation now heads to the Senate floor.
