a state Senate committee has approved a measure that would clarify South Dakota's laws dealing with the death penalty.

a state Senate committee has approved a measure that would clarify South Dakota's laws dealing with the death penalty. Current law provides that when a death-row inmate appears to be mentally incompetent, the prison warden must notify the governor, who then appoints a panel of physicians to determine whether the inmate is mentally competent to be executed.
The bill would shift the proceedings to circuit court, where the circuit judge could order psychiatric examinations and hold hearings to determine whether an inmate is competent to be executed. If an inmate was found to be incompetent to stand trial, a periodic review would be done and an execution could be rescheduled once the inmate became mentally competent.
The bill also clarifies the procedures to be followed if a female death-row inmate is pregnant. The execution is suspended until after the child is born. SB53 also clarifies that people who take part in good faith in an execution are generally immune from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution.