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Bills have been introduced in the South Dakota Legislature the past weeks that will have a direct hearing on unorganized counties in South Dakota. The first, Senate Bill 22, introduced by Sen. Mike O’Con nor, Brandon, and others reads as follows: “FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to amend SDCL 7-2 by adding a new section thereto relating to changing the boundar ies of unorganized counties. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGIS LATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: That Chapter 7-2 be amended by adding a new section thereto reading as fol lows: The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any organized or unorganized county. The board of county commissioners and other county officers of an organized county to which an unorganized county is attached shall perform the duties provided for in this chapter on behalf of the unorganized county. Another bill, House Bill 769, introduced by Rep. Fred Littau, Millboro, and others reads as follows: “FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to amend SDCL 7-17-1, to detach Todd County from Tripp County, to establish the county highway board as the governing body of Todd county, to provide for the provision of county services and to establish a maximum mill levy for Todd county. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Section 1, That 7-17-1 be amended to read as follows: The unorgan ized county of Shannon is at tached to the county of Fall River, and the unorganized county of Washabaugh is at tached to the county of Jackson, and the unorganized county of Todd is attached to the county of Tripp for administration of gov ernmental and fiscal affairs, including all state, county, judicial, taxation, election, re cording, canvassing, and fore closure purposes, excepting in cases where the administration of any said affairs is expressly otherwise provided by law. Section 2. The county highway board of Todd county is hereby vested with and shall henceforth exercise all authority and powers otherwise exercised by any board of county commissioners with regard to any other county pursuant to any provision of law. Section 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law, the county highway board of Todd county is authorized to contract for, and any state, agency or county as defined in 1-24-1 is authorized to provide Todd county with, all governmental services pursuant to any agreement entered into under the provisions of chapter 1-24. Section 4. The county highway board of Todd county may levy a maximum of nineteen mills on agricultural property for school purposes and thirty mills on nonagricultural land for school purposes and a maximum of ten mills for county general pur poses. The state of South Dakota shall distribute to Todd county funds in an amount equal to one hundred and fifty per cent of the total amount of taxes raised in Todd county in each year.” Senate Bill 22 appears to be a “clean up” bill in that, when passed and effective, will allow Tripp County officials to perform their duties on behalf of Todd County, something they've been doing for many years but for which apparently there was no law House Bill 769, if passed and enacted, will sever Todd from Tripp County, turn the Todd County Highway Board into the county’s governing body, author izes them to provide county services and establishes a maxi mum mill levy for Todd County. Todd County’s senators are Bill Sutton and Clint Roberts. Senate lobby phone number is 224-3372. Todd County's repre sentatives are Fred Littou, Harold Lieh, Marvis Hagen and Bill Jensen. House lobby phone number is 224-3506. It appears that a committee hearing on House Bill 769 will be held sometime next week.
Newspaper Details
Mission Todd County Tribune
Mission, South Dakota, US
Thu, Jan 22, 1976
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Richmond C.
USA 13 Dec 2025
Other Publications Near Mission, South Dakota
Mission Todd County Tribune
