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programs outside prison walls.
• South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson and legislative leaders stood by the governor's side during the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Daugaard, Gilbertson, Senate Republican Leader Russell Olson and House Republican Leader David Lust appointed a study panel that recommended the bill.
• "We are going to change the administration of criminal justice in this state for the good of all its citizens," Daugaard said as he signed the bill.
• The law will use intensive probation and parole, along with expanded special courts and other programs that treat drug and alcohol offenders, as part of an effort to divert offenders from prison and prevent them from committing future crimes.
• Officials have said if nothing is done to curb a rapid increase in adult inmates, the state would have to spend an estimated $212 million to build and operate a new men's prison and a new women's prison in the next decade. The new programs will cost an estimated $51 million, resulting in a savings of more than $160 million, they said.
• Daugaard said the changes in the criminal justice system should begin to reduce the rate at which South Dakota locks up offenders. The study panel reported that South Dakota has 416 inmates for every 100,000 people, far higher than the average imprisonment rate of 307 per 100,000 in the neighboring six states.
• The Republican governor said prison will be reserved for violent and chronic offenders. Probation, parole and other treatment programs will be used to help nonviolent offenders overcome the drug, alcohol and other problems that got them into trouble, he said.
• "Those offenders will able to be in their communities, still working at jobs, still paying for their rent and putting food on the table for their families," Daugaard said after the signing ceremony.
• In response to a question, Daugaard acknowledged that at some point an offender diverted from prison will commit a horrible crime while being treated in a community program. But he said there will be many more cases where the treatment prevents offenders from committing new crimes.
• Gilbertson said it makes sense to treat drug and alcohol offenders in community programs rather than just sending them to prison.
• "Do you want them released from prison untreated and still addicts, or do you want them to have successfully completed a drug and alcohol program and overcome their addictions?" Gilbertson said.
• The chief justice said new drug and alcohol courts will be established because the existing ones have been successful in rehabilitating offenders. About 80 percent of the people put in drug and alcohol courts so far have graduated or are success

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