ENTITLED An Act to revise the incentive program for juvenile diversion opportunities.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That   26-8D-2 be AMENDED:

26-8D-2. The Department of Corrections shall provide a fiscal incentive program to incentivize county use of diversion opportunities. To receive funding from the fiscal incentive program, a county must submit an application to the department before September first of each year.

The application must include data on the number of children annually referred by the county to a diversion program and the number of children referred that successfully complete a diversion program. For each child referred to diversion, the application must specify the type of program or type of diversion the child was referred to, the name and location of each diversion provider, and whether the child completed the diversion program.

Each qualifying county shall receive an allotment of funds based on the number of children referred by the county that complete a court-approved diversion program at a rate of seven hundred and fifty dollars per child. If the number of children completing a diversion program statewide results in an amount that exceeds the allotted funds, the allotted amount for each county must be prorated. The department shall transfer payments to counties on or about November first each year.

The department shall report data collected from participating counties semiannually to the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council.

An Act to revise the incentive program for juvenile diversion opportunities.

Statutes affected:
Introduced, 01/03/2024: 26-8D-2
Enrolled, 03/01/2024: 26-8D-2