WeedPress: The Paper Trail

The October 26 South Dakota Register lists the South Dakota Department of Health’s amendments to the state’s medical cannabis rules, ARSD Article 44:90, as effective November 5, 2026. The Legislative Research Council’s October 26 South Dakota Register lists the filing under “Final Administrative Rules”: 35 sections of Article 44:90, public hearing September 23, 2026, filed October 16, 2026, effective November 5, 2026.¹ The Register cites the original hearing notice at 53 SDR 25 (Aug. 31, 2026).²

Secretary of Health Melissa Magstadt’s Form 13 certificate lists the same 35 sections and states that the rules “will become effective twenty days after filing with the Office of the Secretary of State.”³

What WeedPress could and could not verify

As of October 27, 2026, the “Adopted Rules” document on the state’s rulemaking portal is not available for download; the button is disabled.⁴ Accordingly, the exact adopted-rules document filed with the Secretary of State could not be verified from the rules portal as of Oct. 27. WeedPress compared the department’s August 21 proposed text with the “Latest Version of Rule (w/amendments)” the department posted on the same portal. That PDF was created October 7, 2026.⁵ At the Interim Rules Review Committee’s October 14 meeting, the department’s Office of Medical Cannabis administrator told the committee, according to the meeting’s audio recording: “On October 7, 2026, the final rules and supporting documents were submitted to LRC and the committee.”¹⁴ WeedPress’s review of the October 7 PDF found that its amended sections match the 35 sections listed in the certificate and the Register, with one numbering exception: the Register and certificate list “44:90:09:07,” while both department drafts amend § 44:90:09:07.01.¹ ³ ⁵

WeedPress did not find an audio recording of the September 23 agency hearing on the state rules portal, the Department of Health website, or the LRC website. The department’s written hearing minutes (Form 10) are posted.¹⁰

Disclosure: WeedPress publisher Jason Karimi submitted written comments on §§ 44:90:12:03 and 44:90:12:11 during the comment period. The department’s hearing minutes list him as an opponent (Exhibit A).¹⁰

§ 44:90:12:11: fines become second-offense penalties for Categories 4 and 5

The current fine schedule sets a flat “Category 4 violation, one thousand dollars” and “Category 5 violation, five hundred dollars.”⁸ The October 7 version strikes the flat amounts and gives each category two tiers. For Category 4:

“(a) First offense, corrective action plan to be submitted and approved; and (b) Second or subsequent offense, one thousand dollars; and”⁵

Category 5 has the same structure, ending with “(b) Second or subsequent offense, five hundred dollars.”⁵

Categories 1 through 3 are unchanged in the October 7 version and still list fines from the first offense: $5,000 / $7,000 / $10,000; $3,000 / $4,000 / $5,000; and $1,500 / $2,500.⁵ ⁸ The five-year lookback for counting prior offenses is also unchanged.⁵

Category 4 violations under § 44:90:12:10 include “[f]ailure to follow and maintain standard operating procedures.” Category 5 violations include failures involving agent badges, visitor rules, and scale requirements.⁹

The only differences between the proposed and October 7 versions of § 12:11 are stylistic: “Corrective Action Plan” became lowercase, and an “and” was added.⁵ ⁶ In its September 4 review, LRC’s code counsel recommended retitling the section “Schedule of fines and corrective action” and changing the lead-in to “fines or corrective action.” The reviewer’s note: “This is needed since the corrective action plan language below is not a fine.”¹¹ The October 7 version still uses the title “Schedule of fines” and the lead-in “the following fines.”⁵ LRC’s cover letter states that under SDCL 1-26-4(4) “the Department is required to adopt LRC recommendations, subject to an appeal to the Interim Rules Review Committee,” and that “LRC reserves the right to withdraw recommendations if they are resolved via discussion with Department staff.”¹¹ The records WeedPress reviewed do not show how that recommendation was resolved.

At the October 14 committee meeting, Sen. Taffy Howard “asked why penalties were being relaxed for some violations,” according to the committee’s minutes. The minutes summarize the department’s answer: “For the sake of efficiency, corrective action plans will be implemented first for the lower categories with fines being levied for second and subsequent offenses.”¹³ That answer describes the two-tier schedule in § 44:90:12:11. The minutes do not record any discussion of § 44:90:12:03 or of the two proposed penalty sentences discussed below.¹³

§ 44:90:12:03: the corrective-action rule, and what dropped out

The current § 44:90:12:03 allows the department, “[u]pon the discovery of a suspected violation,” to “order the establishment to comply with a corrective action plan.”⁷

The proposed amendment replaced that with an order to “submit a corrective action plan for department review and approval.” It also added two sentences connecting corrective-action plans to money penalties:

“Failure to submit, implement, or comply with an approved corrective action plan may result in a monetary penalty or other enforcement action authorized under this article or SDCL chapter 34-20G.”⁶

“Nothing in this section prevents the department from imposing a fine as provided in § 44:90:12:10 and 44:90:12:11 in addition to requiring an establishment to provide and comply with a corrective action plan.”⁶

The October 7 version keeps the new submit-and-approve framework:

“…the department may order the medical cannabis establishment to submit a corrective action plan for department review and approval. The establishment shall comply with the corrective action plan as approved by the department. The department may inspect, review records, or otherwise verify implementation of the approved corrective action plan.”⁵

Neither of the two penalty sentences appears in the October 7 version. The section ends, as the current rule does, with: “Nothing in this section prohibits an establishment from initiating corrective action, including voluntarily recalling cannabis or cannabis products.”⁵ ⁷

The public record does not explain the removal. In the Form 10 hearing minutes, the department answered the § 12:03 comments with “No changes made.” In one response it said the changes “align the rule language with the current process”; in another, that the proposed updates ensure the rule language “aligns with the process already in place.”¹⁰ In LRC’s September 4 review, a reviewer flagged the “monetary penalty” sentence with “Clarity – ‘fine’?” and a reply said, “See SDCL 34-20G-72(6)(a).”¹¹ ¹² LRC’s markup changed “prevents” to “prohibits” in the second sentence but did not strike either of the two proposed penalty sentences.¹¹

How the provisions fit together under the October 7 text

Read together, the October 7 text sets up the following. It is not a prediction of how the department will apply the rules.

• Category 4 and 5, first offense: the schedule specifies a corrective action plan “to be submitted and approved,” not a dollar amount. Fines start with the second offense.⁵
• Categories 1–3: fines apply from the first offense, as before.⁵
• Any suspected violation: § 12:03 lets the department order a corrective action plan, which the establishment “shall comply with … as approved.”⁵
• What § 12:03 no longer says expressly: that failure to submit or follow a plan “may result in a monetary penalty,” or that a fine may be imposed “in addition to” a plan. Neither statement is in the current rule either.⁵ ⁶ ⁷
• What did not change: § 44:90:12:10 was not part of this package. It still allows fines “in addition to, or in lieu of, suspension, revocation, or any other penalty,” and caps “the total fines assessed per inspection” at ten thousand dollars.⁹ Its Category 1–5 lists contain no separate entry for failing to comply with a corrective action plan.⁹

Other changes the department documented

The department’s Form 10 minutes record these responses to public comment:¹⁰

• § 44:90:04:08 (video surveillance): “Removed addition of live viewing of stored footage from subsection (2).”
• § 44:90:09:07.01 (pre-rolls): the department “agrees that this rule creates duplicative testing requirements” and removed the pre-roll change. The October 7 text keeps “With the exception of pre-rolls.”⁵
• § 44:90:09:02 / § 44:90:09:11 (decontamination): proposed subsection (4) of § 09:02 “has been struck.” Section 09:11 now reads: “The Certificate of Analysis shall indicate if cannabis and cannabis products have been subjected to any type of decontamination or pretreatment prior to initial testing under § 44:90:09:01 or remediation after initial testing.”⁵
• § 44:90:04:13 (visitors): “Removed language that permission must be obtained from the Department for visitors outside of the list of approved visitors.”
• § 44:90:06:01 (testing facilities): restored the Drug Enforcement Administration registration language that had been proposed for deletion.
• § 44:90:02:07 (home cultivation): the department “made the decision to strike sections restricting home cultivation for individuals under age 21.”
• Withdrawn / numbering discrepancy: The Register’s filed list does not include §§ 44:90:02:15 or 44:90:03:16, both of which were in the department’s proposed package.¹ ⁶ Form 10 says § 44:90:03:16 was removed from the package.¹⁰ On the October 14 audio, the department said it “decided not to proceed with” § 44:90:02:15 and § 44:90:03:16.¹⁴ The committee minutes instead list “44:90:02:14 and 44:90:03:16” as removed.¹³

Committee review

On October 14, on a motion by Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, seconded by Rep. Jon Hansen, the Interim Rules Review Committee voted 6–0 that its review of the 44:90 rules was complete.¹³ Terra Larson of the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota told the committee that members support the rules as presented. Amanda Johnson of Happy Flower Healing in Yankton submitted written opposition focused on the fine schedule.¹³ ¹⁵ Her handout called the remaining first-offense fines “very extreme” and said they “leave no room for discretion.”¹⁵ The committee’s vote did not set the effective date. The November 5 date follows from the department’s October 16 filing with the Secretary of State, and under state law a rule becomes provisionally effective on the twentieth day after filing, not counting the day of filing.¹ ³ ¹⁶

What remains open

• The text filed with the Secretary of State on October 16: the state rules portal still did not make the “Adopted Rules” document available as of Oct. 27.
• The record reviewed here does not explain why the two § 12:03 penalty sentences do not appear in the October 7 version after Form 10 responses saying “No changes made.”
• Whether LRC’s recommended § 12:11 retitle was withdrawn or not adopted.
• The 44:90:09:07 vs. 44:90:09:07.01 numbering in the Register and certificate.
• Audio of the September 23 agency hearing.

WeedPress will update this story when the adopted text is posted.

Related coverage:

• South Dakota Wants to Rewrite Its Corrective-Action Rule. The Fine Can Still Come With It. (Sept. 11, 2026)
• 38 Rules, 19,821 Patients, 108 Licensed Establishments: South Dakota Rewrites Its Medical Cannabis Program (Sept. 9, 2026)
• South Dakota Has Rewritten Article 44:90 Before. The 38-Amendment Package Is Large. It Is Not the First. (Sept. 10, 2026)
• My Written Comments to South Dakota Health: Put the Numbers in the Rulemaking Record (Sept. 10, 2026)
• How to File a Written Comment on South Dakota’s 38-Rule Medical Cannabis Package (Sept. 21, 2026)
• LRC Says South Dakota Health’s New Homegrow Restriction May Lack Statutory Authority (Sept. 23, 2026)

Notes

¹ Final Administrative Rules, 53 S.D. Reg. 56 (Oct. 26, 2026), https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/Register/308659.pdf.

² Notice of Public Hearing to Amend Rules (Dep’t of Health), 53 S.D. Reg. 25 (Aug. 31, 2026), https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/Register/307532.pdf.

³ S.D. Dep’t of Health, Certificate (Form 13), ARSD art. 44:90 (Oct. 2026), https://rules.sd.gov/Uploads/970_Certificate.pdf.

⁴ S.D. Dep’t of Health, Office of Medical Cannabis, Rule Detail, rules.sd.gov (last visited Oct. 27, 2026), https://rules.sd.gov/detail.aspx?Id=970.

⁵ S.D. Dep’t of Health, Latest Version of Rule (w/amendments), ARSD art. 44:90 (Oct. 7, 2026), https://rules.sd.gov/Uploads/970_AdminsOriginalDraft.pdf.

⁶ S.D. Dep’t of Health, Proposed Rules, ARSD art. 44:90 (Aug. 21, 2026), https://rules.sd.gov/Uploads/970_OrginalDraftRules.pdf.

⁷ S.D. Admin. R. 44:90:12:03 (2025), https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Rules/44:90:12:03.html.

⁸ S.D. Admin. R. 44:90:12:11 (2025), https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Rules/44:90:12:11.html.

⁹ S.D. Admin. R. 44:90:12:10 (2025), https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Rules/44:90:12:10.html.

¹⁰ S.D. Dep’t of Health, Minutes of Public Hearing (Form 10), ARSD art. 44:90 (hearing held Sept. 23, 2026) (with public comments), https://rules.sd.gov/Uploads/970_AgencyHearingMin.pdf.

¹¹ Letter from Justin J. Goetz, Code Counsel, S.D. Legis. Rsch. Council, to Jennifer Jorgenson, S.D. Dep’t of Health (Sept. 4, 2026) (with proposed-rules markup), https://rules.sd.gov/Uploads/970_LetterLRCApproval.pdf.

¹² S.D. Codified Laws § 34-20G-72(6)(a) (cited in LRC markup, supra note 11), https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/34-20G-72.

¹³ Interim Rules Review Comm., Minutes 8–9 (S.D. Oct. 14, 2026), https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/308282.pdf.

¹⁴ Hearing on ARSD art. 44:90 Before the Interim Rules Review Comm., 2026 Interim (S.D. Oct. 14, 2026) (audio at 2:16:48–2:29:05; quoted passage at approx. 2:20:15; transcribed from the official recording by three independent speech-to-text engines, which agree verbatim), https://sdpb.sd.gov/sdpbpodcast/2026/interim/rul10142026.mp3.

¹⁵ Amanda Johnson, Happy Flower Healing, Handout to the Interim Rules Review Comm. (Oct. 14, 2026), https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/308389.pdf.

¹⁶ S.D. Codified Laws § 1-26-6 (“[A]ll other rules are provisionally effective on the twentieth day after being filed, not counting the day of filing.”), https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/1-26-6.