South Dakota HB 1209: require employment verification eligibility through the e-verify program and to provide a penalty therefor.

Bill Text

1209F 101st Legislative Session 1209

2026 South Dakota Legislature
House Bill 1209

Introduced by: Representative Garcia

Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes indicate deleted language.
AMENDMENT 1209F
FOR THE SENATE STATE AFFAIRS ENGROSSED BILL

An Act to require employment verification eligibility through the e-verify program 1
and to provide a penalty therefor. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 3
Section 1. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 60-2: 4
Every employer, as defined in § 61-1-4, with more than fifty twenty-five employees 5
shall, after hiring an employee, shall, within twenty days of and no later than the tenth 6
day after the employee's first day of work, verify the employment eligibility of the 7
employee through the United States Department of Homeland Security's e-verify program, 8
and shall keep a record of the verification for the duration of the employee's employment. 9
An employer is not liable for failure to timely comply with this section if the e-verify 10
program is temporarily unavailable. Once the e-verify program becomes available again 11
following a temporary pause, the employer has twenty ten days to verify the employment 12
eligibility through the e-verify program. 13
Section 2. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 60-2: 14
The attorney general may, upon receipt of a complaint, investigate an alleged 15
violation of section 1 of this Act. If the attorney general deems the complaint meritorious 16
and receives written confirmation from the United States Department of Homeland 17
Security or the United States Department of Justice that an employer has knowingly 18
employed an unauthorized person in violation of federal immigration law, the attorney 19
general may recover a civil penalty of two-thousand dollars for each violation. The 20
attorney general shall forward to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund any 21
civil penalty recovered pursuant to this section. 22
An employer who uses the e-verify in good faith and maintains the verification 23
record is not liable for any civil penalty arising from an employee's work authorization. An 24

1209F 2 1209
Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes indicate deleted language.
employer is not liable for the actions of a third-party staffing agency, subcontractor, or 1
labor contractor, unless the employer knowingly participated in a violation. 2
If upon investigation the attorney general has reasonable cause to determine that 3
a violation of section 1 of this Act has occurred, the attorney general must commence a 4
civil action in circuit court to recover a civil penalty in the amount of two thousand dollars 5
per unauthorized or unverified employee. The attorney general shall forward any civil 6
penalty collected under this section to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund. 7
Nothing in this section prohibits the attorney general from initiating an 8
investigation based on information from any other source. 9
Section 3. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 60-2: 10
Any An individual may not knowingly submit false information or documents to an 11
employer to evade a determination of employment eligibility under the e-verify program. 12
A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. 13