South Dakota HB 1127 updates licensing, staffing, and risk assessment rules for birth centers and certified professional midwives

Original title: revise provisions related to birth centers and the practice of certified professional midwives at birth centers.

Last action · February 5, 2026: Deferred to the 41st legislative daySponsors: Tamara Grove and 26 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Proposed

South Dakota House Bill 1127 revises operational and licensing requirements for birth centers, requiring a $500 annual license fee, a mandatory written risk assessment system for low-risk pregnancies, and at least one practitioner or registered nurse on duty during active labor.

Why it matters

Birth centers operating in South Dakota must comply with updated staffing minimums during labor, mandatory client risk-transfer protocols, and new individualized client care plans enforced by the Department of Health.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Birth centers

Birth centers must pay a $500 annual licensing fee, enforce risk assessment systems, maintain specific on-duty staffing during active labor, and create individual client care plans.

Directly affected

Certified professional midwives

Practitioners must perform client risk assessments prior to admission, continually monitor clients for low-risk status, and handle referrals or transfers according to established standards.

Directly affected

Department of Health

The department is responsible for issuing and annually renewing licenses, prescribing application forms, and conducting inspections.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the licensing requirements for opening a birth center under this bill?

An applicant must submit an application to the Department of Health accompanied by a nonrefundable license fee of $500, and the center must pass an inspection to show it meets state requirements.

Who is permitted to receive care at a birth center under the updated rules?

Only clients who have been assessed by a practitioner to have a may be admitted, and they must be continually monitored for any deviation from a low-risk condition.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Follow the record

Votes, people, money & the original source

Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

3 actions

Feb 5, 2026House
Deferred to the 41st legislative day
Feb 5, 2026House
Scheduled for hearing
Jan 26, 2026HouseIntroduced
First read in House and referred to

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →