By Victoria Wicks
The South Dakota Senate passed a bill Tuesday that gives immunity to young Good Samaritans who have been illegally drinking if they are helping someone in an emergency. Senator Larry Tidemann says he sponsored the bill at the request of student leaders from major state campuses. He says the students are over the age of 21.
“They shared experiences that they encountered when they were either a resident assistant or now they’re called community assistants, when people were brought back into the dorm who had had too much to drink when they were out experimenting, and the friends just dumped them in the room. Some of those people ended up dying. Most of them were saved. The intent of this bill is to save those individuals,” Tidemann says.
Senate Bill 132 offers immunity from underage consuming, possessing, or open container if the offender is assisting in an emergency until medical or law enforcement personnel arrive. It passed the Senate by a 29 to 6 vote. It now goes to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration there.